Linear search

Linear search is a simple searching algorithm to find out an item in a list using a sequential method. It means that we start looking at the first item in the list, then move to the second item, the third item, the fourth item, and so on. In Chapter 2, Storing Data in Lists and Linked Lists and Chapter 3, Constructing Stacks and Queues, when we discussed data structure, we designed a searching algorithm for each data structure we had. Actually, the searching algorithm uses a linear searching algorithm.

Developing a linear search algorithm

To refresh our memory about linear algorithms, let's pick a random array that contains {43, 21, 26, 38, 17, 30, 25, 18}. We then have to find the index where 30 is stored. As we can see in the array, 30 is in index 5 (since the array is zero-based indexing); however, if we find an unexisting item, the algorithm should return -1. The following is the method of linear search named LinearSearch():

int LinearSearch(
    int arr[],
    int startIndex...