Bucket Sort: A Comprehensive Guide
Introduction to Bucket Sort Bucket sort, sometimes referred to as bin sort, is a distribution sort algorithm that works by distributing the elements of an array into a number of buckets. Each bucket is then sorted individually, either using a different sorting algorithm or recursively applying the bucket sort algorithm. Bucket sort is mainly...
Radix Sort: Digit-by-Digit Sorting Technique
Introduction to Radix Sort Radix Sort stands apart from conventional comparison-based sorting algorithms. It sorts numbers progressively, digit by digit, starting usually from the least significant digit (LSD) to the most significant one (MSD) or vice-versa. Designed primarily for sorting integer numbers, Radix Sort can also handle strings or any...
Counting Sort: A Non-comparative Sorting Technique
Introduction to Counting Sort Counting sort is a unique sorting algorithm that doesn’t compare individual elements in the traditional sense. Instead, it determines the position of each element based on counting the number of elements that are less than it. Designed to sort integers or objects that can be mapped to a set of positive...
Understanding Shellsort: The Dynamic Gap Sorting Technique
Introduction to Shellsort Shellsort, named after its inventor Donald Shell, is an in-place comparison sort. While it can be viewed as a generalization of sorting by exchange (like bubble sort) or sorting by insertion (like insertion sort), Shellsort stands out by its approach of comparing elements separated by a gap of several positions. This...
A Deep Dive into Quicksort: Fast and Efficient Sorting
Introducing Quicksort Quicksort, often just called “quick”, is an efficient, comparison-based, in-place sorting algorithm. It’s a classic example of a divide-and-conquer strategy in computer algorithms. The beauty of Quicksort lies in its simplicity, speed, and elegance, making it one of the most popular algorithms for real-world...
Merge Sort: Logic, Implementation & Performance
Introduction to Merge Sort Merge Sort is a classical divide-and-conquer algorithm. Established on the idea of breaking a problem down into smaller and more manageable parts, it has earned its place as one of the preferred algorithms for sorting large datasets. At its core, Merge Sort divides an array into halves, sorts them, and then...
Delving into Heap Sort: A Powerful Sorting Mechanism
Introduction to Heap Sort Heap Sort is a powerful comparison-based sorting algorithm that utilizes a binary heap data structure. It boasts the benefits of both insertion sort and merge sort, yet doesn’t require the auxiliary space of the latter. As a result, Heap Sort has an edge in certain scenarios due to its in-place sorting...
Unpacking Insertion Sort: An Intuitive Approach to Sorting
Introduction to Insertion Sort Insertion Sort is a simple and intuitive comparison-based sorting algorithm. It builds the final sorted list one item at a time. It’s much like how we sort playing cards in our hands: we take one card from the unsorted section and place it in its correct position within the already sorted...
Understanding Selection Sort: A Simple Yet Powerful Algorithm
Introduction to Selection Sort Selection Sort is another fundamental sorting algorithm known for its simplicity. It works by dividing the list into two parts: a sorted and an unsorted section. During each pass, it selects the smallest (or largest, depending on sorting order) element from the unsorted segment and swaps it with the first unsorted...
Demystifying Bubble Sort: An Elementary Sorting Algorithm
Introduction to Bubble Sort Bubble Sort is one of the simplest and most intuitive sorting algorithms. It is a comparison-based algorithm where the list is iterated over multiple passes, and adjacent elements are swapped if they’re in the wrong order. The process repeats until the list is sorted. Although its simplicity makes it easy to...