In Python interviews, understanding common algorithms like binary search is crucial for demonstrating problem-solving efficiency—often asked to optimize time complexity from O(n) to O(log n) for sorted data, showing your grasp of divide-and-conquer strategies.

# Basic linear search (O(n) - naive approach)
def linear_search(arr, target):
    for i in range(len(arr)):
        if arr[i] == target:
            return i
    return -1

nums = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9]
print(linear_search(nums, 5))  # Output: 2

# Binary search (O(log n) - efficient for sorted arrays)
def binary_search(arr, target):
    left, right = 0, len(arr) - 1
    while left <= right:  # Divide range until found or empty
        mid = (left + right) // 2
        if arr[mid] == target:
            return mid
        elif arr[mid] < target:
            left = mid + 1  # Search right half
        else:
            right = mid - 1  # Search left half
    return -1

sorted_nums = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9]
print(binary_search(sorted_nums, 5))  # Output: 2
print(binary_search(sorted_nums, 6))  # Output: -1 (not found)

# Edge cases
print(binary_search([], 1))      # Output: -1 (empty list)
print(binary_search(, 1))     # Output: 0 (single element)

#python #algorithms #binarysearch #interviews #timescomplexity #problemsolving

👉 @DataScience4