When NOT to Use

Avoid forcing this pattern when:

• Unsorted data without preprocessing: Binary search requires sorted order. If sorting isn't allowed or takes too long, use hash-based approaches.
• Need all occurrences, not just one: Binary search finds one position.

Finding all requires additional linear scans or multiple binary searches.

• Small search space: For n < $100$, linear search is simpler and fast enough. Binary search overhead isn't worth it.