Well, that will depend on the type and number of records to be searched as well as the access method and whether it is direct from a disk file or a buffer in RAM. It will also be dependant on the layout of the data file, such as binary tree, linked list or flat ASCII file. Usually, for most small data bases hobbyists are involved with, it doesn't make much real difference except for educational purposes. The real advantage to one over the other comes as you increase the size of the data searched and the number of searches made. I hope that these generalities help you see that there isn't one specific best answer to this question in all cases. As a generalization, it is usually most efficient to save data into a properly formed binary tree and search accordingly. Google around a bit and you should find several excellent tutorials and articles. I hope this helps.
