You can implement your B-tree as an array if that's what you like. The advantage of the B-tree-like-layouts is that you need fewer indirections. With binary search you do one node jump per comparison. With a B-tree you do one jump per N comparisons.
Of course, the detail is in trying it out, intuition does not always capture hardware behavior. I remember looking at this many years ago and B-trees were considerably faster. The code was far from being optimal though. Maybe if one pulls all tricks in the book the additional complexity of managing multiple comparisons will outweigh saving from reducing loads.
Of course, the detail is in trying it out, intuition does not always capture hardware behavior. I remember looking at this many years ago and B-trees were considerably faster. The code was far from being optimal though. Maybe if one pulls all tricks in the book the additional complexity of managing multiple comparisons will outweigh saving from reducing loads.