Sorting Algorithms

Sorting is the process of arranging the elements of an array so that they can be placed either in ascending or descending order. For example, consider an array A = {A1, A2, A3, A4, ?? An }, the array is called to be in ascending order if element of A are arranged like A1 > A2 > A3 > A4 > A5 > ? > An .

Consider an array;

int A[10] = { 5, 4, 10, 2, 30, 45, 34, 14, 18, 9 )

The Array sorted in ascending order will be given as;

A[] = { 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 14, 18, 30, 34, 45 }

There are many techniques by using which, sorting can be performed. In this section of the tutorial, we will discuss each method in detail.

Sorting Algorithms

Sorting algorithms are described in the following table along with the description.

SN	Sorting Algorithms	Description
1	Bubble Sort	It is the simplest sort method which performs sorting by repeatedly moving the largest element to the highest index of the array. It comprises of comparing each element to its adjacent element and replace them accordingly.
2	Bucket Sort	Bucket sort is also known as bin sort. It works by distributing the element into the array also called buckets. In this sorting algorithms, Buckets are sorted individually by using different sorting algorithm.
3	Comb Sort	Comb Sort is the advanced form of Bubble Sort. Bubble Sort compares all the adjacent values while comb sort removes all the turtle values or small values near the end of the list.
4	Counting Sort	It is a sorting technique based on the keys i.e. objects are collected according to keys which are small integers. Counting sort calculates the number of occurrence of objects and stores its key values. New array is formed by adding previous key elements and assigning to objects.
5	Heap Sort	In the heap sort, Min heap or max heap is maintained from the array elements deending upon the choice and the elements are sorted by deleting the root element of the heap.
6	Insertion Sort	As the name suggests, insertion sort inserts each element of the array to its proper place. It is a very simple sort method which is used to arrange the deck of cards while playing bridge.
7	Merge Sort	Merge sort follows divide and conquer approach in which, the list is first divided into the sets of equal elements and then each half of the list is sorted by using merge sort. The sorted list is combined again to form an elementary sorted array.
8	Quick Sort	Quick sort is the most optimized sort algorithms which performs sorting in O(n log n) comparisons. Like Merge sort, quick sort also work by using divide and conquer approach.
9	Radix Sort	In Radix sort, the sorting is done as we do sort the names according to their alphabetical order. It is the lenear sorting algorithm used for Inegers.
10	Selection Sort	Selection sort finds the smallest element in the array and place it on the first place on the list, then it finds the second smallest element in the array and place it on the second place. This process continues until all the elements are moved to their correct ordering. It carries running time O(n2) which is worst than insertion sort.
11	Shell Sort	Shell sort is the generalization of insertion sort which overcomes the drawbacks of insertion sort by comparing elements separated by a gap of several positions.