Indexing is the process of producing an index. An index is a sorted structure of keys - perhaps titles - and the position of the related record. In a printed book, an index is usually an alphabetically sorted list of key words with the page numbers where the key word occurs. In computing, the principle is the same. A database may contain thousands of records. Searching the database sequentially for a specific record is very slow, so an index is often used. The index file contains key data, perhaps a stock code number or name, together with the position of the associated record. A computer system may then search the sorted index very much more quickly for the required key and having found it, jump to the specified record or position within the main datafile - assuming a random access file. A very popular indexing method used in computer files is the 'B-Tree' or 'balanced multiway tree' in which a search follows a binary pattern, starting with a single root and branching until the desired key is located. This
saves the developed from having to code their own binary search on a sequentially arranged, sorted index file. Research Indexing
Abbreviations
SciTech
Research Indexing