Linear Search

A linear search, also known as a sequential search, is a method of finding an element within a list. It checks each element of the list sequentially until a match is found or the whole list has been searched.

Algorithm

Start from the leftmost element of arr[] and one by one compare with each element of arr[].
If x matches with an element, return the index.
If x doesn't match with any of the elements, return -1.

Program using C

// LINEAR SEARCH
#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
int linearsearch(int[],int,int);
int main()
{
	int A[50], n, el, i, p;
	printf("Enter the no. of elements: ");
	scanf("%d",&n);
	printf("Enter the elements: ");
	for(i=0; i<n; i++)
		scanf("%d",&A[i]);
	printf("Enter the element to be searched: ");
	scanf("%d",&el);
	p = linearsearch(A, el, n);
	if(p==-1)
		printf("Element Not Found");
	else
		printf("Element Found in %d index",p);
	return 0;		
}

int linearsearch(int A[], int el, int n)
{
	int p=-1, i;
	for(i=0; i<n; i++)
        {
		if(A[i] == el)
		{
		   p = i;
		   break;			
        }	
		}
	return (p);	
}