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Mastering Binary Search: Avoiding Off-By-One Errors & Overflow

Elena Rostova
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.

Elena Rostova
Written by Elena RostovaAdSense EEAT Verified

Staff Engineer & Algorithmic Specialist. Reviewed by ByteVortex Senior Editorial Board for UK/CA academic and industry accuracy.