Searching and Sorting Algorithms

What does a searching algorithm do?

• Search through a set of data
• Save a set of data
• Help to organise data

What would be needed if searching algorithms didn't exist?

• The data would need to be saved
• Each item of data would need to be looked at one by one, until the searched for data was found
• A new set of data to look at would be needed

Which of these is a type of searching algorithm?

• Linear search
• Word search
• Search engine
  

What does a linear search do?

• Looks at the first item of data, then each one in turn, until it finds the data item requested
• Organises the data into alphabetical order
• Splits the data until the requested data is found

What is an advantage of a linear search?

• It is very quick
• It only works with ordered lists
• It is a simple algorithm

Which of the following is NOT an advantage of a serial search?

• It can be used on any set of data regardless of type
• It is the quickest search to use
• It is a simple algorithm, so it is easy to write a computer program to carry it out

What does a binary search do?

• Looks at the first item of data, then each one in turn, until it finds the data item requested
• Converts all the data into binary
• Takes the data and splits it in half repeatedly until it finds the data item requested

Which search algorithm would be best to use with ordered data?

• A binary search
• Either binary search or a linear search
• A linear search

What is an advantage of a binary search

• It's very quick
• It only works with ordered lists
  
• It is a simple algorithm

What is the biggest disadvantage of a binary search?

• It is slow
• It can only be used if the data is sorted into an order
  
• It takes the data and keeps dividing it in half until it finds the item it is looking for