Programming Concepts Beginner

What is Binary Search?

An efficient search algorithm that finds a target value in a sorted array by repeatedly dividing the search interval in half.

Binary search compares the target to the middle element. If smaller, search the left half; if larger, search the right half. Each step eliminates half the remaining elements, giving O(log n) time complexity — searching 1 million items takes at most 20 comparisons.

Prerequisites: the data must be sorted. Binary search is used in database index lookups, dictionary searches, and finding insertion points. Variations include lower/upper bound searches and bisection methods for continuous functions.

Related Terms

A data structure that maps keys to values using a hash function, providing average O(1) time complexity for lookups, insertions, and deletions.

Testing individual components or functions of a program in isolation to verify they work correctly.

Restructuring existing code without changing its external behavior to improve readability, maintainability, and performance.

A linear data structure where elements are stored in nodes, each containing data and a pointer to the next node in the sequence.

The ability of a program to manage multiple tasks that can make progress during overlapping time periods.

Functional Programming

A programming paradigm that treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions, avoiding state changes and mutable data.

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