Searching — Important Questions

Sequential search, Serial search

Linear search compares each element one by one in the order they appear in the list, beginning from the first element. Because of this, it is also called sequential search or serial search. The other options are not names used for this method.

(first + last) // 2

The middle position is calculated using floor division (//), which gives an integer result. This ensures we get a valid index position in the list.

Search in the first half

If the key is smaller than the middle element, it can only be found in the first half of the sorted list (if present). We ignore the second half and continue searching in the first half.

Hashing

Hashing can locate a key in just one step using a hash function to calculate the index directly. The time required is constant and independent of the list size.