Secondary indices

No secondary index => linear search

 

* Entries: 1000, Line width: 100
*                Key width:   20
* The READ locates the 500th entry.

READ TABLE ITAB INTO WA
     WITH KEY DATE = SY-DATUM.
IF SY-SUBRC = 0.
  " ...
ENDIF.

 

 

Binary search using secondary index

 

* Entries: 1000, Line width: 100
*                Key width:   20
* The READ locates the 500th entry.

READ TABLE SEC_IDX INTO  SEC_IDX_WA
     WITH KEY DATE = SY-DATUM
          BINARY SEARCH.
IF SY-SUBRC = 0.
  READ TABLE ITAB INTO WA
                  INDEX SEC_IDX_WA-INDX.
  " ...
ENDIF.

Documentation
If you need to access an internal table with different keys
repeatedly, keep your own secondary indices.
With a secondary index, you can replace a linear search with a
binary search plus an index access.