Linear Search

Definition: A basic process designed to search for a specified value in a list. The search is done by simply checking each individual value in the list from left to right until the specified target is found or until all elements have been searched.

Real Life Example: You are in the mall food court and looking for a Jimmy John's. All of the fast food restaurants are lined up directly next to each other, so you start from the left-most restaurant and keep walking right until you find a Jimmy John's.

Procedure:

Start from the left-most element.

Visit each individual value, checking to see if that value matches the specified target.

If you find the value, stop searching.

Commonly Used In:

Searching for a value in an unordered dataset.
Looking for a value in a small dataset.
Searching for a value in a non-numeric dataset.