Binary vs Linear Searching Algorithms

Searching algorithms are a vital aspect of any programming language. They are used in finding the required item of data. Hence, their efficiency and speed are essential for programmers. We will talk about Binary vs Linear Searching Algorithms. Hopefully, this would help you understand these search algorithms in depth.

What is a Searching Algorithm?

In brief, Searching algorithms are many types of different ways to search for an item in your array. There are many different types of Searching Algorithms such as Binary, Linear, Exponential and Sublist.

Why do we use Searching Algorithms?

In order to understand the necessity of Searching Algorithms, we would have to discuss the objective of programming. Undoubtedly, everyone knows that the objective of programming is to solve problems and that’s why we make programs. Some of these programs that are made by programmers use the existing data in real-time to solve problems. However, sometimes data could be huge, maybe thousands or millions of items of data. For instance, if we are trying to identify data on one specific item from a long array, it could take ages. Resulting in very slow problem-solving.

Hence, we have Searching Algorithms stepping into the industry to solve this problem. They entitle programs to quickly retrieve data of any item quickly. Most importantly, there are various search algorithms with their own pros and cons within their own respective fields.

What is Binary Search Algorithm?

Binary Search Algorithm is a searching algorithm that is one of the fastest searching algorithms. Interestingly, it is used in sorted arrays. Binary Search Algorithm works by working out the starting index and Last index in the array and constantly dividing by half to find the item in the array. For instance, the starting index (0) is known as “Low” and the last index, which will be 6 will be known as “High”. As you can see in the image below.

Binary Searching Algorithms will find the middle point of the array in the image below:

Once the Middle point of the array has been identified, the searching algorithm would cut it in half like in the image below:

After cutting the array in the middle, it would once again go over the array to find its new “High” value and middle point. As you would be able to see in the image above, the number “4” that we were trying to find has been identified. However, if the array was long, this process would repeat until it has gone through the whole array or it has identified the requested value.

Undoubtedly, Binary Search Algorithm is one of the quickest searching algorithms. Even in the worst cases, the binary search takes O(log n) time, which is quite fast compared to other searching algorithms. It can be implemented in programming in two ways: Recursion or Iteration.

What is Linear Search Algorithm?

Linear Search Algorithm is also known as Sequential Search Algorithm, it is probably the simplest searching algorithm. Unfortunately, it is very slow for big data. Linear Search Algorithm works on a very easy premise, which is that it goes through all the data to find the requested value. In other words, the searching algorithm would start from the 0 indexes and go on until it finds the value in the array.

For instance, in the image below, we are trying to find a value of 20 in the array. The searching Algorithm starts by comparing each element from the start of the array and goes till it finds the value, which is 20 in this case. Obviously, this is the reason for Linear Searching Algorithm being labelled as slow. Because, if the array is too long, it will take a long time to get to the value we are looking for.

Linear/Sequential Search Algorithms are used for arrays that have a small amount of data. Surprisingly, Linear Search turns out to be faster than the Binary Search when implemented on small data.

Wrap up…

In conclusion, the Binary Search Algorithm is effective for larger data. Meanwhile, Linear Search is suitable for small data.