Search Algorithms

What is pseudocode?

• Simplified programming language, that is not a specific language
• Complicated programming language
• Simple programming language, which is linked to a specific language
• A type of cheese

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
  

An algorithm is...

• A set of steps to solve a problem
• When you sort data into the correct order
• When you search data for a specific value
• Any written code

Which of the following is the best description of the linear search algorithm?

• Put the elements in order, then go through them one by one until target is found or the end of the list is reached.
• Put the elements in order, compare with the middle value, if not the target: continue to the left or right of the middle and repeat. 
• Elements do not need to be in order. Go through them one by one until target is found or the end of the list is reached.
• Elements do not need to be in order, compare with the middle value, if not the target: continue to the left or right of the middle and repeat. 

Which of the following is the best description of the binary search algorithm?

• Put the elements in order, then go through them one by one until target is found or the end of the list is reached.
• Put the elements in order, compare with the middle value, if not the target: continue to the left or right of the middle and repeat. 
• Elements do not need to be in order. Go through them one by one until target is found or the end of the list is reached.
• Elements do not need to be in order, compare with the middle value, if not the target: continue to the left or right of the middle and repeat. 

As the data set grows in size, linear search becomes more efficient than binary search. 

• True
• False

What is the maximum number of comparisons a linear search algorithm could make while searching a 100 item list?

• 50
• 51
• 100
• 101

What is the maximum number of comparisons required to find a value in a list of 20 items using a binary search?

• 20
• 5
• 6
• 21