Sorting Algorithms

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Sorting
• Sorting is a process that organizes a collection of data into either ascending or
descending order.
• An internal sort requires that the collection of data fit entirely in the
computer’s main memory.
• We can use an external sort when the collection of data cannot fit in the
computer’s main memory all at once but must reside in secondary storage such
as on a disk.
• We will analyze only internal sorting algorithms.
• Any significant amount of computer output is generally arranged in some
sorted order so that it can be interpreted.
• Sorting also has indirect uses. An initial sort of the data can significantly
enhance the performance of an algorithm.
• Majority of programming projects use a sort somewhere, and in many cases,
the sorting cost determines the running time.
• A comparison-based sorting algorithm makes ordering decisions only on the
basis of comparisons.
CENG 213 Data Structures
 Sorting Algorithms
• There are many sorting algorithms, such as:
– Selection Sort
– Insertion Sort
– Bubble Sort
– Merge Sort
– Quick Sort

• The first three are the foundations for faster

and more efficient algorithms.
CENG 213 Data Structures
 Selection Sort
• The list is divided into two sublists, sorted and unsorted,
which are divided by an imaginary wall.
• We find the smallest element from the unsorted sublist and
swap it with the element at the beginning of the unsorted
data.
• After each selection and swapping, the imaginary wall
between the two sublists move one element ahead,
increasing the number of sorted elements and decreasing
the number of unsorted ones.
• Each time we move one element from the unsorted sublist
to the sorted sublist, we say that we have completed a sort
pass.
• A list of n elements requires n-1 passes to completely
rearrange the data.
CENG 213 Data Structures
Sorted Unsorted

23 78 45 8 32 56 Original List

8 78 45 23 32 56 After pass 1

8 23 45 78 32 56 After pass 2

After pass 3
8 23 32 78 45 56

8 23 32 45 78 56 After pass 4

After pass 5
8 23 32 45 56 78
CENG 213 Data Structures
 Selection Sort (cont.)
template <class Item>
void selectionSort( Item a[], int n) {
for (int i = 0; i < n-1; i++) {
int min = i;
for (int j = i+1; j < n; j++)
if (a[j] < a[min]) min = j;
swap(a[i], a[min]);
}
}

template < class Object>

void swap( Object &lhs, Object &rhs )
{
Object tmp = lhs;
lhs = rhs;
rhs = tmp;
}

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Selection Sort -- Analysis
• In general, we compare keys and move items (or exchange items)
in a sorting algorithm (which uses key comparisons).
 So, to analyze a sorting algorithm we should count the
number of key comparisons and the number of moves.
• Ignoring other operations does not affect our final result.

• In selectionSort function, the outer for loop executes n-1 times.

• We invoke swap function once at each iteration.
 Total Swaps: n-1
 Total Moves: 3*(n-1) (Each swap has three moves)

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Selection Sort – Analysis (cont.)
• The inner for loop executes the size of the unsorted part minus 1
(from 1 to n-1), and in each iteration we make one key
comparison.
 # of key comparisons = 1+2+...+n-1 = n*(n-1)/2
 So, Selection sort is O(n2)
• The best case, the worst case, and the average case of the
selection sort algorithm are same.  all of them are O(n2)
– This means that the behavior of the selection sort algorithm does not depend on the
initial organization of data.
– Since O(n2) grows so rapidly, the selection sort algorithm is appropriate only for
small n.
– Although the selection sort algorithm requires O(n2) key comparisons, it only
requires O(n) moves.
– A selection sort could be a good choice if data moves are costly but key
comparisons are not costly (short keys, long records).
CENG 213 Data Structures
Comparison of N, logN and N2
N O(LogN) O(N2)
16 4 256
64 6 4K
256 8 64K
1,024 10 1M
16,384 14 256M
131,072 17 16G
262,144 18 6.87E+10
524,288 19 2.74E+11
1,048,576 20 1.09E+12
1,073,741,824 30 1.15E+18

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Insertion Sort
• Insertion sort is a simple sorting algorithm that is
appropriate for small inputs.
– Most common sorting technique used by card players.
• The list is divided into two parts: sorted and
unsorted.
• In each pass, the first element of the unsorted part
is picked up, transferred to the sorted sublist, and
inserted at the appropriate place.
• A list of n elements will take at most n-1 passes to
sort the data.

CENG 213 Data Structures

Sorted Unsorted

23 78 45 8 32 56 Original List

23 78 45 8 32 56 After pass 1

23 45 78 8 32 56 After pass 2

After pass 3
8 23 45 78 32 56

8 23 32 45 78 56 After pass 4

After pass 5
8 23 32 45 56 78
CENG 213 Data Structures
 Insertion Sort Algorithm
template <class Item>
void insertionSort(Item a[], int n)
{
for (int i = 1; i < n; i++)
{
Item tmp = a[i];

for (int j=i; j>0 && tmp < a[j-1]; j--)

a[j] = a[j-1];
a[j] = tmp;
}
}

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Insertion Sort – Analysis
• Running time depends on not only the size of the array but also
the contents of the array.
• Best-case:  O(n)
– Array is already sorted in ascending order.
– Inner loop will not be executed.
– The number of moves: 2*(n-1)  O(n)
– The number of key comparisons: (n-1)  O(n)
• Worst-case:  O(n2)
– Array is in reverse order:
– Inner loop is executed i-1 times, for i = 2,3, …, n
– The number of moves: 2*(n-1)+(1+2+...+n-1)= 2*(n-1)+ n*(n-1)/2  O(n2)
– The number of key comparisons: (1+2+...+n-1)= n*(n-1)/2  O(n2)
• Average-case:  O(n2)
– We have to look at all possible initial data organizations.
• So, Insertion Sort is O(n2)
CENG 213 Data Structures
 Analysis of insertion sort
• Which running time will be used to characterize this
algorithm?
– Best, worst or average?
• Worst:
– Longest running time (this is the upper limit for the algorithm)
– It is guaranteed that the algorithm will not be worse than this.
• Sometimes we are interested in average case. But there are
some problems with the average case.
– It is difficult to figure out the average case. i.e. what is average
input?
– Are we going to assume all possible inputs are equally likely?
– In fact for most algorithms average case is same as the worst case.

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Bubble Sort
• The list is divided into two sublists: sorted and
unsorted.
• The smallest element is bubbled from the unsorted
list and moved to the sorted sublist.
• After that, the wall moves one element ahead,
increasing the number of sorted elements and
decreasing the number of unsorted ones.
• Each time an element moves from the unsorted
part to the sorted part one sort pass is completed.
• Given a list of n elements, bubble sort requires up
to n-1 passes to sort the data.

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Bubble Sort
23 78 45 8 32 56 Original List

8 23 78 45 32 56 After pass 1

8 23 32 78 45 56 After pass 2

After pass 3
8 23 32 45 78 56

8 23 32 45 56 78 After pass 4

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Bubble Sort Algorithm
template <class Item>
void bubleSort(Item a[], int n)
{
bool sorted = false;
int last = n-1;

for (int i = 0; (i < last) && !sorted; i++){

sorted = true;
for (int j=last; j > i; j--)
if (a[j-1] > a[j]{
swap(a[j],a[j-1]);
sorted = false; // signal exchange
}
}
}

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Bubble Sort – Analysis
• Best-case:  O(n)
– Array is already sorted in ascending order.
– The number of moves: 0  O(1)
– The number of key comparisons: (n-1)  O(n)
• Worst-case:  O(n2)
– Array is in reverse order:
– Outer loop is executed n-1 times,
– The number of moves: 3*(1+2+...+n-1) = 3 * n*(n-1)/2  O(n2)
– The number of key comparisons: (1+2+...+n-1)= n*(n-1)/2  O(n2)
• Average-case:  O(n2)
– We have to look at all possible initial data organizations.
• So, Bubble Sort is O(n2)

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Mergesort
• Mergesort algorithm is one of two important divide-and-conquer
sorting algorithms (the other one is quicksort).
• It is a recursive algorithm.
– Divides the list into halves,
– Sort each halve separately, and
– Then merge the sorted halves into one sorted array.

CENG 213 Data Structures

Mergesort - Example

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Merge
const int MAX_SIZE = maximum-number-of-items-in-array;
void merge(DataType theArray[], int first, int mid, int last)
{
DataType tempArray[MAX_SIZE]; // temporary array
int first1 = first; // beginning of first subarray
int last1 = mid; // end of first subarray
int first2 = mid + 1; // beginning of second subarray
int last2 = last; // end of second subarray
int index = first1; // next available location in tempArray
for ( ; (first1 <= last1) && (first2 <= last2); ++index) {
if (theArray[first1] < theArray[first2]) {
tempArray[index] = theArray[first1];
++first1;
}
else {
tempArray[index] = theArray[first2];
++first2;
} }
CENG 213 Data Structures
 Merge (cont.)
// finish off the first subarray, if necessary
for (; first1 <= last1; ++first1, ++index)
tempArray[index] = theArray[first1];

// finish off the second subarray, if necessary

for (; first2 <= last2; ++first2, ++index)
tempArray[index] = theArray[first2];

// copy the result back into the original array

for (index = first; index <= last; ++index)
theArray[index] = tempArray[index];
} // end merge

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Mergesort
void mergesort(DataType theArray[], int first, int last) {
if (first < last) {
int mid = (first + last)/2; // index of midpoint
mergesort(theArray, first, mid);
mergesort(theArray, mid+1, last);

// merge the two halves

merge(theArray, first, mid, last);
}
} // end mergesort

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Mergesort - Example

6 3 9 1 5 4 7 2
divide
6 3 9 1 5 4 7 2
divide divide
6 3 9 1 5 4 7 2

divide divide divide divide

6 3 9 1 5 4 7 2
merge merge merge merge

3 6 1 9 4 5 2 7
merge merge

1 3 6 9 merge
2 4 5 7

1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9
CENG 213 Data Structures
Mergesort – Example2

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Mergesort - Analysis
2m level 0 : 1 merge (size 2m-1)
2m-1 2m-1
level 1 : 2 merges (size 2m-2)

level 2 : 4 merges (size 2m-3)

2m-2 2m-2 2m-2 2m-2
. .
. .
. .
level m-1 : 2m-1 merges (size 20)
20 20
................. level m

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Mergesort – Analysis
• Mergesort is extremely efficient algorithm with respect
to time.
– Both worst case and average cases are O (n * log2n )

• But, mergesort requires an extra array whose size

equals to the size of the original array.

• If we use a linked list, we do not need an extra array

– But, we need space for the links
– And, it will be difficult to divide the list into half ( O(n) )

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Quicksort
• Like mergesort, Quicksort is also based on
the divide-and-conquer paradigm.
• But it uses this technique in a somewhat opposite manner,
as all the hard work is done before the recursive calls.
• It works as follows:
1. First, it partitions an array into two parts,
2. Then, it sorts the parts independently,
3. Finally, it combines the sorted subsequences by
a simple concatenation.

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Quicksort (cont.)
The quick-sort algorithm consists of the following three steps:

1. Divide: Partition the list.

– To partition the list, we first choose some element from the list
for which we hope about half the elements will come before
and half after. Call this element the pivot.
– Then we partition the elements so that all those with values
less than the pivot come in one sublist and all those with
greater values come in another.
2. Recursion: Recursively sort the sublists separately.
3. Conquer: Put the sorted sublists together.

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Partition
• Partitioning places the pivot in its correct place position within the array.

• Arranging the array elements around the pivot p generates two smaller sorting
problems.
– sort the left section of the array, and sort the right section of the array.
– when these two smaller sorting problems are solved recursively, our bigger
sorting problem is solved.

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Partition – Choosing the pivot
• First, we have to select a pivot element among the elements of the
given array, and we put this pivot into the first location of the
array before partitioning.
• Which array item should be selected as pivot?
– Somehow we have to select a pivot, and we hope that we will
get a good partitioning.
– If the items in the array arranged randomly, we choose a pivot
randomly.
– We can choose the first or last element as a pivot (it may not
give a good partitioning).
– We can use different techniques to select the pivot.

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Quicksort – Analysis
• Quicksort is O(n*log2n) in the best case and average case.
• Quicksort is slow when the array is sorted and we choose the first
element as the pivot.
• Although the worst case behavior is not so good, its average case
behavior is much better than its worst case.
– So, Quicksort is one of best sorting algorithms using key comparisons.

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Radix Sort
• Radix sort algorithm different than other sorting algorithms that
we talked.
– It does not use key comparisons to sort an array.
• The radix sort :
– Treats each data item as a character string.
– First it groups data items according to their rightmost
character, and put these groups into order w.r.t. this rightmost
character.
– Then, combine these groups.
– We, repeat these grouping and combining operations for all
other character positions in the data items from the rightmost
to the leftmost character position.
– At the end, the sort operation will be completed.

CENG 213 Data Structures

 Radix Sort – Example
mom, dad, god, fat, bad, cat, mad, pat, bar, him original list
(dad,god,bad,mad) (mom,him) (bar) (fat,cat,pat) group strings by rightmost letter
dad,god,bad,mad,mom,him,bar,fat,cat,pat combine groups
(dad,bad,mad,bar,fat,cat,pat) (him) (god,mom) group strings by middle letter
dad,bad,mad,bar,fat,cat,pat,him,god,mom combine groups
(bad,bar) (cat) (dad) (fat) (god) (him) (mad,mom) (pat) group strings by first letter

bad,bar,cat,dad,fat,god,him,mad,mom,par combine groups (SORTED)

CENG 213 Data Structures

Radix Sort – Example

CENG 213 Data Structures

Comparison of Sorting Algorithms

CENG 213 Data Structures