Question

Which of the following algorithms will run in constant time?(1 point)
Responses

traversing an array
traversing an array

binary search on a sorted array
binary search on a sorted array

accessing an element of an array
accessing an element of an array

sorting an array

Answer 1

Among the options listed, the algorithm that runs in constant time is:

**accessing an element of an array**

This operation has a time complexity of O(1) because it retrieves an element at a specific index directly without needing to iterate through the array.

The other operations have different time complexities:
- **Traversing an array** has a time complexity of O(n), where n is the number of elements in the array, as it requires accessing each element.
- **Binary search on a sorted array** has a time complexity of O(log n), since it repeatedly divides the search interval in half.
- **Sorting an array** typically has a time complexity of O(n log n) or worse, depending on the sorting algorithm used.

So, the only constant time operation is accessing an element of an array.