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Mastering Binary Search: Avoiding Off-By-One Errors & Overflow
Elena Rostova
Staff Engineer & Algorithmic Specialist
Updated 02/09/20265 min read0 views
The Classic Binary Search Pattern
Binary search reduces search space by half each iteration. Calculating mid = low + (high - low) // 2 prevents integer overflow.
python
def binary_search(arr, target):
low, high = 0, len(arr) - 1
while low <= high:
mid = low + (high - low) // 2
if arr[mid] == target:
return mid
elif arr[mid] < target:
low = mid + 1
else:
high = mid - 1
return -1
print("Target Index:", binary_search([1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11], 7))Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What is the time complexity of Binary Search?
O(log N) logarithmic time complexity.
Written by Elena RostovaAdSense EEAT Verified
Staff Engineer & Algorithmic Specialist. Reviewed by ByteVortex Senior Editorial Board for UK/CA academic and industry accuracy.