ECE 250 Algorithms and Data Structures

Search algorithms

Douglas Wilhelm Harder, M.Math. LEL

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

ece.uwaterloo.ca
dwharder@alumni.uwaterloo.ca

© 2006-2013 by Douglas Wilhelm Harder. Some rights reserved.

 Search algorithms
2

Outline

In this presentation, we will cover:

– Linear search
– Binary search
– Interpolation search, and
– A hybrid of these three
 Search algorithms
3

Linear search

Linearly searching an ordered list is straight-forward:

– We will always search on the interval [a, b]
template <typename Type>
bool linear_search( Type const &obj, Type *array, int a, int b ) {
for ( int i = a; i <= b; ++i ) {
if ( array[i] == obj ) {
return true;
}
}

return false;
}
 Search algorithms
4

Binary search

A binary search tests the middle entry and continues searching

either the left or right halves, as appropriate:
template <typename Type>
bool binary_search( Type const &obj, Type *array, int a, int c ) {
while ( a <= c ) {
int b = a + (c - a)/2;

if ( obj == array[b] ) {
return true;
} else if ( obj < array[b] ) {
c = b – 1;
} else {
assert( obj > array[b] );
a = b + 1;
}
}

return false;
}
 Search algorithms
5

Binary search

Question:
– Which of these should you choose? Does it matter, and if so, why?

int b = a + (c - a)/2;
int b = (a + b)/2;

– Suppose both a, b < 231 but a + b ≥ 231

 Search algorithms
6

Binary search

Question:
– Should a binary search be called on a very small list?
• Hint: What is involved in the overhead of making a function call?
 Search algorithms
7

Binary search

For very small lists, it would be better to use a linear search:

template <typename Type>

bool binary_search( Type const &obj, Type *array, int a, int c ) {
while ( c – a > 16 ) {
int b = a + (c - a)/2;

if ( obj == array[b] ) {
return true;
} else if ( obj < array[b] ) {
c = b – 1;
} else {
assert( obj > array[b] );
a = b + 1;
}
}

return linear_search( obj, array, a, c );

}
 Search algorithms
8

Binary search

Consider the following weakness with a binary search:

– Who opens the telephone book at Larson—Law (the middle) when
searching for the name “Bhatti”?

Binary search, however, always searches the same sequence of

entries
– Consider searching for 5 in this list:

1 3 5 8 10 14 16 19 21 24 35 41 45 47 51 63

– Suggestions?
 Search algorithms
9

Binary search

We will assume that the object being searched for has properties
similar to the real number where we can do linear interpolation

If we are dealing with a dictionary, we may need a refined definition

of a linear interpolation based on the lexicographical ordering
– Consider a string as the fractional part of a base 26 real number:
cat 0 . 2 0 1926
dog 0 . 3 14 6 26

Therefore, (cat + dog)/2 = 0 . 5 14 2526 / 2 ≈ 0.1072210

 Search algorithms
10

Interpolation search

Use linear interpolation to make a better guess as to where to look

template <typename Type>
bool interpolation_search( Type const &obj, Type *array, int a, int
c ) {
while ( c – a > 16 ) {
int b = a + static_cast<int>(
((c - a)*(obj – array[a])) / (array[c] – array[a])
);

if ( obj == array[b] ) {
return true;
} else if ( obj < array[b] ) {
c = b – 1;
} else {
assert( obj > array[b] );
a = b + 1;
}
}
return linear_search( obj, array, a, b );
}
 Search algorithms
11

Interpolation search

Interpolation search is best if the list is:

– Perfectly uniform: Q(1)
– Uniformly distributed: O(ln(ln(n))

Unfortunately, interpolation search may fail dramatically:

– Consider searching this array for 2:

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 16
 Search algorithms
12

Run times of searching algorithms

The following table summarizes the run times:

Average
Algorithm Best Case Worst Case
Case
Linear Search O(n) O(n) O(n)
Binary Search O(ln(n)) O(ln(n)) O(ln(n))
Interpolation Search Q(1) O(ln(ln(n))) O(n)
 Search algorithms
13

Harder search

A hybrid of the two algorithm has the best of both worlds:

– Start with interpolation search, use binary if interpolation doesn’t work
template <typename Type>
bool harder_search( Type const &obj, Type *array, int a, int c ) {
int use_binary_search = false;

while ( c – a > 16 ) {
int midpoint = a + (c - a)/2; // point from binary search
int b = use_binary_search ? midpoint : a + static_cast<int>(
((c - a)*(obj – array[a])) / (array[c] – array[a])
);

if ( obj == array[b] ) {
return true;
} else if ( obj < array[b] ) {
c = b – 1; Based on introspective search which
use_binary_search = ( midpoint < b );
} else {
alternates between interpolation and
a = b + 1; binary searches
use_binary_search = ( midpoint > b );
}
}

return linear_search( obj, array, a, b );

}
 Search algorithms
14

Run Times of Searching Algorithms

Now, the worst case is that of binary search while the best is that of
interpolation search

Average
Algorithm Best Case Worst Case
Case
Linear search O(n) O(n) O(n)
Binary search O(ln(n)) O(ln(n)) O(ln(n))
Interpolation search Q(1) O(ln(ln(n))) O(n)
Harder search Q(1) O(ln(ln(n))) O(ln(n))
 Search algorithms
15

Summary

Searching a list is reasonably straight-forward, but there are some

twists
– In some cases, a linear search is simply quicker
– Binary search has logarithmic run times
– Interpolation search can be very good in specific cases
– A hybrid prevents the worst-case scenario for an interpolation search
 Search algorithms
16

References

Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_algorithm

These slides are provided for the ECE 250 Algorithms and Data Structures course. The
material in it reflects Douglas W. Harder’s best judgment in light of the information available to
him at the time of preparation. Any reliance on these course slides by any party for any other
purpose are the responsibility of such parties. Douglas W. Harder accepts no responsibility for
damages, if any, suffered by any party as a result of decisions made or actions based on these
course slides for any other purpose than that for which it was intended.