Linear Search in C

Algorithms: Searching November 15, 2026 C

Scan the input from left to right until the target is found.

c
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#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <limits.h>
#include <errno.h>
// Linear Search in C
//
// PURPOSE
// Scan the input from left to right until the target is found. No ordering is required, so
// linear search is useful for small or unsorted collections.
//
// METHOD
// Compare each element with target. Return immediately on a match; return -1 after the scan.
// Before each iteration, every earlier position is known not to match.
//
// COMPLEXITY
// O(n) time in the worst case, O(1) auxiliary space.
//
// CONTRACT
// n is the array length. Returns the first matching index, or -1. Empty input is valid.
// Public APIs infer array lengths except in C, which accepts pointer/length pairs. Vertex
// counts and matrix dimensions remain explicit. Arrays must contain signed 32-bit integers.
// Sorted order, correct tree topology, and caller-owned data-structure invariants are
// preconditions; checking them on every query would change query complexity.
// Scalar and shape checks are included. Value-range checks are included where needed to
// prevent invalid indexing or nontermination. Allocation sizes are capped at 4,000,000
// workspace entries. Arithmetic outside Python raises an error on 32-bit overflow; Python
// uses arbitrary precision. Native allocation failures propagate. In-place outputs may be
// partly updated after arithmetic failure. These are single-threaded, in-memory
// implementations.
//
// LANGUAGE DETAILS
// C99: checked calloc/free workspace, const input pointers, explicit size_t lengths. Errors
// return INT_MIN with errno=EINVAL, ERANGE, or ENOMEM. Check errno before using a result.
// Input/output arrays must not alias. No variable-length stack arrays.
//
// EXAMPLE
// Expected return: 0.
// Run: gcc -std=c99 -O2 example.c -o example && ./example
// Tests for this exact source artifact run before publication. The accompanying source
// archive includes unit cases, runtime results, and source hashes.

static int alg_min(int a, int b) { return a < b ? a : b; }
static int alg_max(int a, int b) { return a > b ? a : b; }
static int alg_checked(int64_t v, int *error) {
    if (v < INT_MIN || v > INT_MAX) { *error = 1; return 0; }
    return (int)v;
}
static int alg_add(int a, int b, int *e) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a+b,e); }
static int alg_sub(int a, int b, int *e) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a-b,e); }
static int alg_mul(int a, int b, int *e) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a*b,e); }

int linear_search(const int *a, size_t a_length, int target) {
    int alg_error = 0;
    int alg_result = INT_MIN;
    errno = 0;
    if (a_length > 1000000 || (a_length && !a)) { errno = EINVAL; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int n = (int)a_length;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (!(((n >= 0) && (n <= 1000000)))) { errno = EINVAL; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (!(((int)a_length == n))) { errno = EINVAL; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    int i = 0;
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    while (1) {
        int alg_condition = (i < n);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        if (!alg_condition) break;
        int alg_condition_1 = (a[i] == target);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
        if (alg_condition_1) {
            alg_result = i;
            if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
            goto alg_cleanup;
        }
        i = alg_add(i, 1, &alg_error);
        if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    }
    alg_result = alg_sub(0, 1, &alg_error);
    if (alg_error) { errno = ERANGE; alg_result = INT_MIN; goto alg_cleanup; }
    goto alg_cleanup;
alg_cleanup:
    return alg_result;
}

int main(void) {
    int a[] = {4, 2, 4};
    int target = 4;
    int result = linear_search(a, 3, target);
    printf("%d\n", result);
    if (errno) { perror("algorithm"); return 1; }
    return 0;
}