What are the advantages and disadvantages of using inverted indexes for text retrieval?

When it comes to text retrieval, inverted indexes play a crucial role in enhancing search performance. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of using inverted indexes:

Advantages:

• Fast Retrieval Speeds: Inverted indexes allow for quick retrieval of documents based on keywords, making search operations efficient.
• Reduced Storage Requirements: By indexing terms rather than entire documents, inverted indexes save storage space.
• Efficient Keyword Search: Users can easily find relevant documents by querying keywords present in the index.

Disadvantages:

• Complex Implementation: Building and maintaining inverted indexes can be challenging, especially for large datasets.
• Frequent Updates: Inverted indexes need to be updated regularly to reflect changes in the underlying documents, which can be resource-intensive.
• Memory Consumption: Storing inverted indexes in memory can lead to increased memory usage, especially for indexing large volumes of text.