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Binary search in Java, step by step

Binary search throws away half of a sorted array on every step. Step through it and watch low, middle and high move until the search finds the target or runs out of room.

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Call stack

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main()
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Step 1/1

What to watch

  • middle is always halfway between low and high, rounded down by integer division.
  • When the middle value is too small, low jumps past it. When it is too big, high drops below it.
  • The loop ends after only a few steps, even though the array has seven values.

Try changing it

  • Search for a value that is not in the array and see how the method returns -1.
  • Double the array length and count how many more steps it takes.

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