Binary Search: Find Numbers Fast in a Sorted List

Have you ever wondered how a computer can find one record among millions in a fraction of a second? The secret is binary search — an elegant algorithm that works on any sorted list by repeatedly cutting the remaining possibilities in half. Instead of checking every item from the start, binary search jumps straight to the middle, decides which half to keep, and discards the rest. Try the demo below to guide the search yourself and see just how few steps it really takes.