Chapter 6. Exploring Search Options

Searching is a widely used process in computer applications, primarily to determine whether an element with a particular value is present in a vector or list of elements or not. It acts as a substitute in case of deletions, as without searching an element of a particular value, deletion operations cannot take place. A search can be an evaluation of finding an element (exact match) in a set of given elements, or finding a group of elements (range match) which falls under a certain range of values. In a search operation, the location of the element is also determined. The location can be used later in deletion operations. A search is said to be successful if the element of a particular key value is found in the given vector (or list), and is said to be unsuccessful if the element of a particular key value is not found in the given vector (or list). This chapter shall cover concepts of sequential search operations and direct access by key value...