Binary search: Algorithms

Binary search is a highly efficient algorithm for finding a specific element within a sorted list or array. Think of it like looking up a word in a dictionary. You don’t start at the beginning and read every page, do you? Instead, you open the dictionary somewhere in the middle. If the word you’re looking for comes before the current page, you know to look in the first half. If it comes after, you search in the second half. You repeat this process, narrowing down your search space with each step, until you find the word or determine it’s not there.