What is binary search?

Can you explain what binary search is?

Sure! Binary search is an efficient algorithm for finding an item from a sorted list of items. It works by repeatedly dividing the search interval in half.

How does it differ from linear search?

Unlike linear search, which checks each element one by one, binary search eliminates half of the remaining elements with each step, making it much faster for large datasets.

What are the requirements for using binary search?

The main requirement is that the list must be sorted beforehand. If the list is not sorted, binary search won't work correctly.

Can you give me an example of how binary search works?

Absolutely! If you have a sorted array like [1, 3, 5, 7, 9] and you want to find 5, binary search will check the middle element (5) and find it immediately.