What is the time complexity of searching in a B-tree?

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What is the time complexity of searching in a B-tree?

The time complexity of searching in a B-tree is O(log n), where n is the number of elements in the tree.

B-trees are balanced search trees that are commonly used in databases and file systems. They have a variable number of child nodes per parent node, which allows them to maintain a balanced structure even with a large number of elements.

During a search operation in a B-tree, we start at the root node and compare the search key with the keys in the node. Based on the comparison, we can determine which child node to follow. This process continues recursively until we find the desired key or reach a leaf node.

Since B-trees are balanced, the height of the tree is logarithmic with respect to the number of elements. As a result, the search operation takes O(log n) time complexity. This logarithmic time complexity makes B-trees efficient for searching large amounts of data, as the number of comparisons required to find a key grows slowly even with a significant increase in the number of elements.