Demo of linear search

linear_search.py

#I McTavish
#Nov 13, 2016
#Linear search - measure how long a linear search takes
import datetime #used to track time

def linear_search(value, list):
    for i in range(len(list)):
        if list[i] == value:
            return i
    return "item not found"

number_of_items = int(input("How many items? "))
master_list = []
for x in range(number_of_items):
    master_list.append(x)
print("Best case Start time: ")
print(datetime.datetime.now())
linear_search(0,master_list)
print("Best case End time: ")
print(datetime.datetime.now())
print("Worst case Start time: ")
print(datetime.datetime.now())
linear_search(len(master_list),master_list)
print("Worst case End time: ")
print(datetime.datetime.now())