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[QUOTE="popeyerayaz, post: 3586730"]
2. Consider the array consisting of 7 elements sorted in ascending
order. What is the Maximum number of comparisons that need to be done
to find any given element using:

a. Sequential search (10 points)
b. Binary search (10 points)

Answer below:

a. Since the total number of elements is seven, and the value is
unknown I can only assume that the maximum number of comparisons may
be the total amount of elements, seven (7).

b. The binary search for any given number is what I can’t figure out.
I have attempted to use the following code and formula but am very
confused as to what the answer could be. I can get certain values but
when I try for example the number two as the value to search for it
just doesn’t work.

low = 0
       high = N
       while (low < high) {
           mid = (low + high)/2;
           if (A[mid] < value)
               low = mid + 1;
           else
                //can't be high = mid-1: here A[mid] >= value,
                //so high can't be < mid if A[mid] == value
                high = mid;
       }

if (low < N) and (A[low] == value)
           return low
       else
           return not_found

any help greatly appreciated.
[/QUOTE]

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