The Origin Of The Binary-Search Paradigm

Abstract

In a binary-search algorithm for the computation of a numerical function, the interval in which the desired output is sought is divided in half at each iteration. The paper considers how such algorithms might be derived from their specifications by an automatic program-synthesis system. The derivation of the binary-search concept has been found to be surprisingly straightforward. The programs obtained, though reasonably simple and efficient, are quite different from those that would have been constructed by informal means.