这是否意味着二进制搜索算法？

Question

I have to write a small Java program to find out how long does it take for performing a search algorithm.

The algorithm reads as:

Assume you have a search algorithm which, at each level of recursion, excludes half of the data from consideration when searching for a specific data item. Search stops only when one data item is left.

I would like to know your opinion about which search algorithm it is.

Answer 1

sounds like a binary search or half-interval search provided that your collection or data is sorted, worst and everage case in O(log n)

if you have to sort first, then the best algorithm will give you O(n log n), then plus O(log n) of binary search , overall it becomes O(n log n)

Answer 2

If your data is sorted, then yes this is binary search algorithm. This algorithm comes under "Divide and Conquer" strategy. In this, each time algorithm goes on dividing the data and half of the data is eliminated. The basic assumption is data is sorted before applying the algorithm.