simple-binary-search.py

# A binary search implementation to test if a number is in a list of elements


def binary_search(a_list, item):
    """
    >>> test_list = [0, 1, 2, 8, 13, 17, 19, 32, 42]
    >>> print(binary_search(test_list, 3))
    False
    >>> print(binary_search(test_list, 13))
    True
    """
    if len(a_list) == 0:
        return False
    midpoint = len(a_list) // 2
    if a_list[midpoint] == item:
        return True
    if item < a_list[midpoint]:
        return binary_search(a_list[:midpoint], item)
    else:
        return binary_search(a_list[midpoint + 1 :], item)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    import doctest

    doctest.testmod()