> the first section after the chapter intro deals with the basic problem of searching for an item in an unsorted array. The simplest algorithm should be familia

> the first section after the chapter intro deals with the basic problem of searching for an item in an unsorted array. The simplest algorithm should be familiar to all programmers. Start your pointer at the head of the array, then do the following in a loop: > Check if the current item is the desired one. If it is, return success; otherwise > Check if the pointer is past the array bound. If it is, return failure; otherwise > Increment the pointer and continue. > Now consider: how many bound checks does this algorithm require on average? In the worst case, when the array doesn’t contain the item, one bound check will be required for each item in the list, and on average it will be something like N/2. A more clever search algorithm can do it with just one bound check in all cases. Tack the desired item on to the end of the array, then start your pointer at the head of the array and do the following in a loop: > Check if the current item is the desired one. If it is, return success if the pointer is within the array bound and return failure if it isn’t; otherwise > Increment the pointer and continue. > With this algorithm, things are arranged such that the item is guaranteed to be found one way or another, and the bound check only needs to be executed once when the item is found. It sounds like he's saying "feel free to overrun the buffer; eventually you'll find the value you want somewhere in the depths of memory, and then you can check and see that you've left the array behind long ago." Aside from the obvious problems, it's not at all guaranteed that the specific bit sequence you want will exist anywhere in memory. What am I missing?