Linear search is a very simple and basic search algorithm. In this blog on “Linear search in C”, we will implement a C Program that finds the position of an element in an array using a Linear Search Algorithm.
We will be covering the following topics in this blog:
What is a Linear Search?
A linear search, also known as a sequential search, is a method of finding an element within a list. It checks each element of the list sequentially until a match is found or the whole list has been searched.
A simple approach to implement a linear search is
Begin with the leftmost element of arr[] and one by one compare x with each element.
If x matches with an element then return the index.
If x does not match with any of the elements then return -1.
Implementing Linear Search in C
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a[20],i,x,n;
printf("How many elements?");
scanf("%d",&n);
printf("Enter array elements:n");
for(i=0;i<n;++i)
scanf("%d",&a[i]);
printf("nEnter element to search:");
scanf("%d",&x);
for(i=0;i<n;++i)
if(a[i]==x)
break;
if(i<n)
printf("Element found at index %d",i);
else
printf("Element not found");
return 0;
}
Output:
The time required to search an element using a linear search algorithm depends on the size of the list. In the best-case scenario, the element is present at the beginning of the list and in the worst-case, it is present at the end.
The time complexity of a linear search is O(n).
With this, we come to the end of this blog on ‘Linear Search in C’. I hope you found it informative.
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