Scribd
Upload
22 views1 page

Binary Search: Private Boolean Int Int Int

The document describes the binary search algorithm. It works by dividing a sorted list in half at each step and determining which half to search next until the item is found or determined not to be in the list. The algorithm is inherently recursive as it solves the problem by making recursive calls to search smaller portions of the list. The recursive version of binary search takes the first and last indices of the search area as arguments and makes recursive calls to search either the first or second half based on where the item compares to the middle element.

Uploaded by

:v jejejejeje
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
22 views1 page

Binary Search: Private Boolean Int Int Int

The document describes the binary search algorithm. It works by dividing a sorted list in half at each step and determining which half to search next until the item is found or determined not to be in the list. The algorithm is inherently recursive as it solves the problem by making recursive calls to search smaller portions of the list. The recursive version of binary search takes the first and last indices of the search area as arguments and makes recursive calls to search either the first or second half based on where the item compares to the middle element.

Uploaded by

:v jejejejeje
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Binary Search

Do you remember the binary search in Chapter 11? Here is the description of the algorithm: “The
algorithm divides the list in half (divides by 2—that’s why it’s called a binary search) and decides
which half to look in next. Division of the selected portion of the list is repeated until the item is
found or it is determined that the item is not in the list.” There is something inherently recursive
about this description.
The solution is expressed in terms of smaller versions of the original problem: If the answer isn’t
found in the middle position, perform a binary search (a recursive call) to search the appropriate
half of the list (a smaller problem). In the iterative version, we kept track of the bounds of the current
search area with two local variables, first and last. In the recursive version, we call the method with
these two values as arguments. We must call the recursive binary search method from the isThere
method of the SortedList class rather than writing it as part of that method.
private boolean binIsThere(int first, int last, int item)
// Returns true if item is in the list
{
if (first > last) // Base case 1
return false;
else
{
int midPoint;
midPoint = (first + last) / 2;
if (item < listItems[midPoint])
return binIsThere(first, midPoint-1, item);
else if (item == listItems[midPoint])
return true; // Base case 2
else
return binIsThere(midPoint+1, last, item);
}
}

public boolean isThere(int item)


// Returns true if item is in the list
{
return binIsThere(0, numItems-1, item);
}

You might also like