Merrill, Jason wrote:
I understand what a binary search algorithm is, but am wondering how
that could be implemented on an array in Actionscript (if at all)
without using methods that would defeating the purpose of a binary
search (speed). Anyone have experience in this area?
So for example, if you have a list like this:
["apple", "orange", "banana", "pear", "cherry", "pineapple", "kiwi",
"peach"]
Then to do a binary search for say, "pineapple", as I understand binary
searching, you would first split the list in the middle (between "pear"
and "cherry") and determine if "pineapple" was in that list - if not,
search the other half and so on until you find "pineapple".
That is wrong, you know that it will be in a certain half due to the
list being sorted. There is no need to scan the half for the object, by
the list already being sorted, you know that if the object exists, it's
in that half.
Just compare the middle element, if it is bigger, use the left half,
else use the right half.
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