What is Linear Search in Python?
Linear search or sequential search is a method for finding a target value within a list. It sequentially checks each element of the list for the target value until a match is found or until all the elements have been searched.
Linear search runs in at worst time and makes at most n comparisons, where n is the length of the list. If each element is equally likely to be searched, then linear search has an average case of n/2 comparisons, but the average case can be affected if the search probabilities for each element vary.
Complexity: It is worst searching algorithm with worst case time complexity O(n).
Pseudo code with implementation:
Program to implement Linear Search in Python:
items = [5, 7, 10, 12, 15]
print("list of items is", items)
x = int(input("enter item to search:"))
i = flag = 0
while i < len(items):
if items[i] == x:
flag = 1
break
i = i + 1
if flag == 1:
print("item found at position:", i + 1)
else:
print("item not found")
OUTPUT:
list of items is [5, 7, 10, 12, 15] enter item to search:12 item found at position: 4