Java 9 Data Structures and Algorithms

Chapter 5. Efficient Searching – Binary Search and Sorting

What is searching? Searching is trying to locate a given value in a collection of values. For example, you are given an array of integers, and your problem is to check whether the integer 5 is in that array. This is a search problem. In addition to just deciding whether the element 5 is in the array, we may be interested in its location as well when it is found. This is also a search problem.

Another interesting take on it would be to imagine a dictionary, that is, an array of values and associated values. For example, you have an array of names of students and their marks, as shown in the following table:

Name	Marks
Tom	63
Harry	70
Merry	65
Aisha	85
Abdullah	72
…	...

The list ...