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Linear & Binary Search

O(n) linear scan works on anything; O(log n) binary search needs sorted data and gives deterministic worst-case timing, plus the overflow and off-by-one bugs that haunt it.

20 min read

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5 interview questions on this topic

Each one opens a full worked answer.

When would you use linear search over binary search?Walk through how binary search works and its complexity.What's the bug in mid = (lo + hi) / 2?Why might binary search be preferable to a hash table in a real-time system?What happens if you binary-search an unsorted array?

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Linear & Binary Search | EmbeddedPrep.io