Search algorithm
any algorithm which solves the search problem, namely, to retrieve information stored within some data structure, or calculated in the search space of a problem domain, either with discrete or continuous values
A search algorithm is a method for finding a target value within a list. It checks each element of the list for the target value until a match is found or until all the elements have been searched.
Linear search is rarely practical because other search algorithms and schemes, such as the binary search algorithm and hash tables, allow significantly faster searching for all but short lists.