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The number of steps in the binary search is less, but each step is more complicated. In a small sample the lineal search is faster, in a large sample the binary is faster. The problem is "how big is big enough?"
It depends on the algorithm.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Jon Paris wrote:

>> I have always thought that these lookups were pretty darn fast anyway,
They are - but everything is relative.  If you have 1,000 elements, then the
average number of comparisons to determine hit/miss is 500, and the worst
case is 1,000.  If you use a binary search the _worst_ case is less than 20.
That's a substantive difference.  Does it matter?  Depends how often you do
it and how time critical the task is.

Jon Paris
Partner400

www.Partner400.com




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