(algorithm)
Definition: Search a sorted array by repeatedly dividing the search interval in half. Begin with an interval covering the whole array. If the value of the search key is less than the item in the middle of the interval, narrow the interval to the lower half. Otherwise narrow it to the upper half. Repeatedly check until the value is found or the interval is empty.
Generalization (I am a kind of ...)
dichotomic search.
Aggregate parent (I am a part of or used in ...)
binary insertion sort, ideal merge, suffix array.
Aggregate child (... is a part of or used in me.)
divide and conquer.
See also linear search, interpolation search, Fibonaccian search, jump search.
Note: Run time is O(ln n).
Finding the middle is often coded as
mid = (high + low)/2;This overflows if high and low are close to the largest expressible integer. The following gives the same result and never overflows, if high and low are non-negative.
mid = low + (high - low)/2;Thanks to Colin D. Wright, 1 June 2005.
Binary search may be effective with an ordered linked list. It makes O(n) traversals, as does linear search, but it only performs O(log n) comparisons. For more explanation, see Tim Rolfe's Searching in a Sorted Linked List.
Author: PEB
If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.
Entry modified 2 March 2015.
HTML page formatted Mon Mar 2 16:13:48 2015.
Cite this as:
Paul E. Black, "binary search", in
Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 2 March 2015. (accessed TODAY)
Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/binarySearch.html