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Algorithms-Analysis Framework Binary Search

Binary search is an efficient algorithm for searching sorted arrays that works by comparing the search key to the middle element of the array and recursively searching either the upper or lower half. The best case runs in O(1) time if the key is in the middle, while the worst case runs in O(log n) time if the key is at the end of the array or not present. Binary search is faster than linear search for large sorted arrays but requires the array to be sorted first and only works for data structures that support direct access.

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33 views

Algorithms-Analysis Framework Binary Search

Binary search is an efficient algorithm for searching sorted arrays that works by comparing the search key to the middle element of the array and recursively searching either the upper or lower half. The best case runs in O(1) time if the key is in the middle, while the worst case runs in O(log n) time if the key is at the end of the array or not present. Binary search is faster than linear search for large sorted arrays but requires the array to be sorted first and only works for data structures that support direct access.

Uploaded by

kaushik.gr
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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•1

Algorithms- Analysis Framework


Binary search
Binary search
•2

 Binary search is a remarkably efficient algorithm for


searching in a sorted array.
 It works by comparing a search key K with the array’s middle
element A[m].
 If they match, the algorithm stops; otherwise, the same
operation is repeated recursively for the first half of the array
if K <A[m], and for the second half if K >A[m]
Binary search algorithm
•3
Binary search complexity
•4

 How many such comparisons does the algorithm


make on an array of n elements?
 The answer obviously depends not only on n but
also on the specifics of a particular instance of the
problem.
Binary search complexity-Best
•5
case
 How many such comparisons does the algorithm
make on an array of n elements?
 Best Case: In the best case, where the target value
is the middle element of the array, its position is
returned after one iteration. It means, regardless of
the size of the list/array, we’ll always get the result
in constant time. So the best case complexity is
O(1).
Binary search complexity-worst
•6
case
 Worst case: In worst case scenario, the binary
search finds the item at the end of the list/array
when it’s narrowed down to a single item.
 The worst case may also be reached when the
target element is not in the array. If n is one less
than a power of two, then this is always the case.
  
Binary search complexity-worst
•7
case
 32/2 --> 16 // 1
16/2 --> 8 // 2
8/2 --> 4 // 3
4/2 --> 2 // 4
2/2 --> 1 // 5 Total = 5 guesses/comparisons.
 If we double the size to 64 then only one more
comparison is extra made.
 64/2 --> 32 // 1
32/2 --> 16 // 2
16/2 --> 8 // 3
8/2 --> 4 // 4
4/2 --> 2 // 5
2/2 --> 1 // 6 Total = 6 guesses/comparisons.
Binary search complexity-worst
•8
case
 If we look at the comparison and size of the input we see a
pattern here eg. 32 = 2⁵ and 64 = 2⁶. Let’s assume n is the
size of input and k is the number of comparisons then we can
say that

 Let’s apply logarithm to both sides with base 2

 By the help of the equation above we can make a statement


that the worst case complexity of binary search is O(log n).
 Solving using recurrence relation O(log (n+1)).
Binary search complexity-worst
•9
case
 The logarithmic function grows so slowly that its
values remain small even for very large values of n.
 It will take no more than log2(103 + 1) = 10 three-
way comparisons to find an element of a given
value (or establish that there is no such element) in
any sorted array of one thousand elements.
 It will take no more than log2(106 + 1) = 20
comparisons to do it for any sorted array of size
one million!
Limitations of Binary Search
•10

 Binary search can be applied iff items are sorted


otherwise one must sort items before applying it.
And we know that sorting is relatively an
expensive operation.
 Binary search can only be applied to data structures
which allow direct access to elements. If we do not
have direct access then we can not apply binary
search on it eg. we can not apply binary search to
Linked List.
Linear Search Usage
•11

 Linear search can be done on a linked list, which


allows for faster insertion and deletion than an
array.
Binary Search Usage
•12

 Sorted arrays with binary search are a very


inefficient solution when insertion and deletion
operations are interleaved with retrieval,
taking O(n) time for each such operation.
 Binary search can be used to perform exact
matching and set membership (determining
whether a target value is in a collection of values)
Binary Search on a sored data
Binary vs Sequential Search
Summary
•15

 Binary search is faster than linear search for sorted


arrays except if the array is short, although the
array needs to be sorted beforehand.
 There are operations such as finding the smallest
and largest element that can be done efficiently on
a sorted array but not on an unsorted array

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