7.5 Searching

Now that you know about algorithms in Java, let's take a look at a common problem which algorithms are made to solve: searching. Imagine you are the host of a large party and have hundreds of guests with their names stored in an ArrayList. When the time comes, people start arriving at your door and you stand outside to check them in one-by-one. To do this you utilize an algorithm known as Linear Search. A Linear Search algorithm is used when you need to find a specific element in an ArrayList. It goes through each element in the list (iterating) until the specific element you are looking for is found.