Linear-Search

Linear Search is defined as a sequential search algorithm that starts at one end and goes through each element of a list until the desired element is found, otherwise the search continues till the end of the data set.

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Working

The following steps are followed to search for an element k = 1 in the list below.

1.Start from the first element, compare k with each element x.

2.If x == k, return the index.

3.Else, return not found.

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Algorithm

Step 1: First, read the search element (Target element) in the array. Step 2: Set an integer i = 0 and repeat steps 3 to 4 till i reaches the end of the array. Step 3: Match the key with arr[i]. Step 4: If the key matches, return the index. Otherwise, increment i by 1.

Code

#include <stdio.h>
 
int search(int arr[], int N, int x)
{
    int i;
    for (i = 0; i < N; i++)
        if (arr[i] == x)
            return i;
    return -1;
}
 
// Driver code
int main(void)
{
    int arr[] = { 2, 3, 4, 10, 40 };
    int x = 10;
    int N = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]);
 
    // Function call
    int result = search(arr, N, x);
    (result == -1)
        ? printf("Element is not present in array")
        : printf("Element is present at index %d", result);
    return 0;
}

Output

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