What is the difference between linear search and binary search?

The main difference between linear search and binary search lies in the way they search for a target element in a given list or array.

Linear search:
- Linear search is a simple search algorithm that sequentially checks each element in the list until the target element is found or the end of the list is reached.
- It starts searching from the beginning of the list and continues until the target element is found or the end of the list is reached.
- Linear search is suitable for both sorted and unsorted lists.
- It has a time complexity of O(n), where n is the number of elements in the list.

Binary search:
- Binary search is a more efficient search algorithm that works on sorted lists or arrays.
- It starts by comparing the target element with the middle element of the list.
- If the target element is equal to the middle element, the search is successful.
- If the target element is less than the middle element, the search continues on the lower half of the list.
- If the target element is greater than the middle element, the search continues on the upper half of the list.
- This process is repeated until the target element is found or the search range becomes empty.
- Binary search is significantly faster than linear search for large lists.
- It has a time complexity of O(log n), where n is the number of elements in the list.