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Interpolation search—a log logN search

Published:01 July 1978Publication History
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Abstract

Interpolation search is a method of retrieving a desired record by key in an ordered file by using the value of the key and the statistical distribution of the keys. It is shown that on the average log logN file accesses are required to retrieve a key, assuming that the N keys are uniformly distributed. The number of extra accesses is also estimated and shown to be very low. The same holds if the cumulative distribution function of the keys is known. Computational experiments confirm these results.

References

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          cover image Communications of the ACM
          Communications of the ACM  Volume 21, Issue 7
          July 1978
          86 pages
          ISSN:0001-0782
          EISSN:1557-7317
          DOI:10.1145/359545
          Issue’s Table of Contents

          Copyright © 1978 ACM

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          Association for Computing Machinery

          New York, NY, United States

          Publication History

          • Published: 1 July 1978

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