Linear search is a method for finding a particular VALUE in a list which consists of CHECKING every one of its elements, one at a TIME and in sequence, until the desired one is found. It is the simplest search algorithm, a special case of brute-force search. Its worst case cost is proportional to the number of elements in the list; and so is its expected cost, if all list elements are equally likely to be searched for. Therefore, if the list has more than a few elements, other methods (such as binary search or hashing) MAY be much more efficient.

Linear search is a method for finding a particular value in a list which consists of checking every one of its elements, one at a time and in sequence, until the desired one is found. It is the simplest search algorithm, a special case of brute-force search. Its worst case cost is proportional to the number of elements in the list; and so is its expected cost, if all list elements are equally likely to be searched for. Therefore, if the list has more than a few elements, other methods (such as binary search or hashing) may be much more efficient.