<s>
In	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
dichotomic	B-Algorithm
search	I-Algorithm
is	O
a	O
search	B-Application
algorithm	I-Application
that	O
operates	O
by	O
selecting	O
between	O
two	O
distinct	O
alternatives	O
(	O
dichotomies	O
)	O
at	O
each	O
step	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
a	O
specific	O
type	O
of	O
divide	B-Algorithm
and	I-Algorithm
conquer	I-Algorithm
algorithm	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Abstractly	O
,	O
a	O
dichotomic	B-Algorithm
search	I-Algorithm
can	O
be	O
viewed	O
as	O
following	O
edges	O
of	O
an	O
implicit	O
binary	O
tree	O
structure	O
until	O
it	O
reaches	O
a	O
leaf	O
(	O
a	O
goal	O
or	O
final	O
state	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
dichotomic	B-Algorithm
searches	I-Algorithm
only	O
have	O
results	O
at	O
the	O
leaves	O
of	O
the	O
tree	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Huffman	B-General_Concept
tree	I-General_Concept
used	O
in	O
Huffman	B-General_Concept
coding	I-General_Concept
,	O
or	O
the	O
implicit	O
classification	B-Algorithm
tree	I-Algorithm
used	O
in	O
Twenty	O
Questions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
dichotomic	B-Algorithm
searches	I-Algorithm
also	O
have	O
results	O
in	O
at	O
least	O
some	O
internal	O
nodes	O
of	O
the	O
tree	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
dichotomic	B-Algorithm
search	I-Algorithm
table	O
for	O
Morse	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dichotomic	B-Algorithm
searches	I-Algorithm
are	O
often	O
used	O
in	O
repair	O
manuals	O
,	O
sometimes	O
graphically	O
illustrated	O
with	O
a	O
flowchart	B-Language
similar	O
to	O
a	O
fault	O
tree	O
.	O
</s>
