Binary Search Basics:
High-Frequency Questions:
(List of high-frequency questions to practice.)
Additional Topics to Explore:
(Any advanced topics or variations of binary search that are worth diving deeper into.)
Binary Search Overview:
In binary search, we adjust the search range by determining the mid, left, and right pointers. However, if the sorted array contains duplicate elements, we need to account for cases where nums[mid] == nums[left] == nums[right]. In such situations, we cannot definitively identify which side of the array to continue searching, so we increment left++ and decrement right-- to eliminate the possibility that both left and right are the target. This results in a worst-case time complexity of O(n).
Example Problem:
81. Search in Rotated Sorted Array II
Two Sigma OA:
During the Two Sigma Online Assessment (OA), I encountered a binary search question. Successfully handling such problems requires a clear understanding of how to adjust the search range and deal with edge cases like duplicates in the array.
