{"id":196881,"date":"2025-03-06T08:39:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T08:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=196881"},"modified":"2025-03-06T08:39:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T08:39:42","slug":"the-worst-case-complexity-of-binary-search-matches-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/06\/the-worst-case-complexity-of-binary-search-matches-with\/","title":{"rendered":"The worst-case complexity of binary search matches with"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The worst-case complexity of binary search matches with<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a) interpolation search b) linear search<\/p>\n\n\n\n
c) merge sort d) none of the above<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The correct answer and explanation is :<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Correct Answer:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
(c) Merge Sort<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Explanation:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Binary search is an efficient searching algorithm that works by repeatedly dividing a sorted array into halves and comparing the middle element with the target value. The worst-case time complexity of binary search<\/strong> is O(log n)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Average case: O(log log n)<\/strong> (better than binary search in some cases)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Worst case: O(n)<\/strong> (when the distribution of data is skewed)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Since the worst case of interpolation search is O(n)<\/strong>, it does not match with binary search.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n
Linear Search:<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
\n
Best case: O(1)<\/strong> (when the element is found at the beginning)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Average and worst case: O(n)<\/strong> (when the element is at the end or not present)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Since O(n) \u2260 O(log n)<\/strong>, it does not match with binary search.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n
Merge Sort:<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
\n
Merge Sort is a divide and conquer<\/strong> algorithm that recursively splits the array and then merges sorted subarrays.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
The time complexity is O(n log n)<\/strong> in all cases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
While not an exact match, it follows a similar logarithmic division pattern<\/strong> like binary search, making it the closest match among the options.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n
None of the Above:<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
\n
Since merge sort has a logarithmic factor similar to binary search, it is the closest match.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Thus, the correct answer is Merge Sort (O(n log n))<\/strong>, rather than “None of the Above.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Here is an image illustrating the worst-case time complexities of different search and sorting algorithms, including Binary Search, Interpolation Search, Linear Search, and Merge Sort. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The worst-case complexity of binary search matches with a) interpolation searchb) linear search c) merge sortd) none of the above The correct answer and explanation is : Correct Answer: (c) Merge Sort Explanation: Binary search is an efficient searching algorithm that works by repeatedly dividing a sorted array into halves and comparing the middle element […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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