A visual proof for an average case of list searching

Authors:
David B. Sher
Affiliations:
Nassau Community College, Garden City New York
Venue:
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
Year:
2008

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Abstract

This paper describes how the more mathematical topics in the data structures curriculum can be illustrated with visual proofs. This frees students from difficult algebraic manipulation. Visual proofs are provided for the average case of searching for a unique item in a list and for searching for an item which occurs independently (and not necessarily uniquely) in the list with a known probability.