Question

Frankie is considering whether to use a binary or linear search in her program to find a value in a sorted list. When she tests the algorithms on selection of short lists of fixed-length lists she finds that the binary search is faster on average than the linear search. Another programmer suggests she tests both algorithms on a selection of lists which are 10 times as long as her original test lists. What most likely describes the likely results of this test?

Answer 1

Answer:

binary search will still be faster

Explanation:

Based on this scenario, the most likely result is that the binary search will still be faster. This is because Binary search repeatedly cuts the list in half thus shortening the search times drastically. This being said, the longer lists will still take more than 10 times as long than the shorter lists because there is a far greater list of combinations for the search algorithm's to sort through.