Sequential access

Sequential access is a term describing a group of elements (such as data in a memory array or a disk file or on magnetic-tape data storage) being accessed in a predetermined, ordered sequence.

It may also be the access method of choice, for example if all that is wanted is to process a sequence of data elements in order.

In spatial dimension, request size, stride distance, backward accesses, re-accesses can affect sequentiality.

[citation needed] The canonical example is the linked list.

On the other hand, some algorithms, typically those that do not have index, require only sequential access, such as mergesort, and face no penalty.