The binary search algorithm:
A) is less efficient than the sequential search algorithm
B) will cut the portion of the array being searched in half each time the loop fails to locate the search value
C) will have a maximum number of comparisons equal to the number of elements in the array
D) will have an average of N/2 comparisons, where N is the number of elements in the array

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The binary search algorithm is more efficient than the sequential search algorithm as it reduces the portion of the array being searched in half each time the loop fails to locate the search value. It does have a maximum number of comparisons equal to log base 2 of the number of elements in the array, which is much less than the total number of elements. The average number of comparisons is also log base 2 of N, which is still very efficient. Therefore, option B is the correct answer.

The Binary Search Algorithm