Editing Linear search (section)

===With a sentinel===
The basic algorithm above makes two comparisons per iteration: one to check if {{math|''L''<sub>''i''</sub>}} equals ''T'', and the other to check if {{math|''i''}} still points to a valid index of the list. By adding an extra record {{math|''L''<sub>''n''</sub>}} to the list (a [[sentinel value]]) that equals the target, the second comparison can be eliminated until the end of the search, making the algorithm faster. The search will reach the sentinel if the target is not contained within the list.{{Sfn|Knuth|1998|loc=§6.1 ("Sequential search"), subsection "Algorithm Q"}}

# Set {{math|''i''}} to 0.
# If {{math|''L''<sub>''i''</sub> {{=}} ''T''}}, go to step 4.
# Increase {{math|''i''}} by 1 and go to step 2.
# If {{math|''i'' < ''n''}}, the search terminates successfully; return {{math|''i''}}. Else, the search terminates unsuccessfully.