Presentation for use with the textbook, Algorithm
Design and Applications, by M. T. Goodrich and R.
Tamassia, Wiley, 2015
Quick-Sort
7 4 9 6 2 2 4 6 7 9
4 2 2 4 7 9 7 9
22 99
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 1
Quick-Sort
Quick-sort is a
randomized sorting x
algorithm based on the
divide-and-conquer
paradigm:
Divide: pick a random x
element x (called pivot)
and partition S into L E G
L elements less than x
E elements equal x
G elements greater than
x x
Recur: sort L and G
Conquer: join L, E and G
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 2
Partition
We partition an input Algorithm partition(S, p)
sequence as follows: Input sequence S, position p of
We remove, in turn,
pivot
Output subsequences L, E, G of
each element y from S
the
and elements of S less
We insert y into L, E or
than, equal to,
G, depending on the or greater than the
result of the pivot, resp.
comparison with the L, E, G empty sequences
pivot x x [Link](p)
Each insertion and while [Link]()
removal is at the y [Link]([Link]())
beginning or at the end if y < x
of a sequence, and [Link](y)
hence takes O(1) time else if y = x
[Link](y)
Thus, the partition step else { y > x }
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 3
of quick-sort takes O(n) [Link](y)
Quick-Sort Tree
An execution of quick-sort is depicted by a
binary tree
Each node represents a recursive call of quick-sort
and stores
Unsorted sequence before the execution and its pivot
Sorted sequence at the end of the execution
The root is the initial call
7 4are
The leaves 9 calls
6 2onsubsequences
2 4 6 7 9of size 0 or 1
4 2 2 4 7 9 7 9
22 99
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 4
Execution Example
Pivot selection
7 2 9 43 7 6 1 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9
7 2 9 4 2 4 7 9 3 8 6 1 1 3 8 6
22 9 4 4 9 33 88
99 44
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 5
Execution Example (cont.)
Partition, recursive call, pivot
selection
7 2 9 4 3 7 6 1 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9
2 4 3 1 2 4 7 9 3 8 6 1 1 3 8 6
22 9 4 4 9 33 88
99 44
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 6
Execution Example (cont.)
Partition, recursive call, base case
7 2 9 43 7 6 1 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9
2 4 3 1 2 4 7 3 8 6 1 1 3 8 6
11 9 4 4 9 33 88
99 44
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 7
Execution Example (cont.)
Recursive call, …, base case, join
7 2 9 43 7 6 1 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9
2 4 3 1 1 2 3 4 3 8 6 1 1 3 8 6
11 4 3 3 4 33 88
99 44
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 8
Execution Example (cont.)
Recursive call, pivot selection
7 2 9 43 7 6 1 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9
2 4 3 1 1 2 3 4 7 9 7 1 1 3 8 6
11 4 3 3 4 88 99
99 44
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 9
Execution Example (cont.)
Partition, …, recursive call, base
case
7 2 9 43 7 6 1 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9
2 4 3 1 1 2 3 4 7 9 7 1 1 3 8 6
11 4 3 3 4 88 99
99 44
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 10
Execution Example (cont.)
Join, join
7 2 9 4 3 7 6 1 1 2 3 4 6 7 7 9
2 4 3 1 1 2 3 4 7 9 7 17 7 9
11 4 3 3 4 88 99
99 44
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 11
Worst-case Running Time
The worst case for quick-sort occurs when the pivot is the
unique minimum or maximum element
One of L and G has size n - 1 and the other has size 0
The running time is proportional to the sum
n + (n - 1) + … + 2 + 1
Thus, the worst-case running time of quick-sort is O(n2)
depth time
0 n
1 n-1
…
… …
n-1 1
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 12
Expected Running Time
Consider a recursive call of quick-sort on a sequence of
size s
Good call: the sizes of L and G are each less than 3s/4
Bad call: one of L and G has size greater than 3s/4
7 2 9 43 7 6 19 7 2 9 43 7 6 1
2 4 3 1 7 9 7 1 1 1 7294376
Good call Bad call
A call is good with probability 1/2
1/2 of the possible pivots cause good calls:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Bad pivots Good pivots Bad pivots
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 13
Expected Running Time,
Part 2
Probabilistic Fact: The expected number of coin tosses
required in order to get k heads is 2k
For a node of depth i, we expect
i/2 ancestors are good calls
The size of the input sequence for the current call is at most
(3/4)i/2n
Therefore, we have expected height time per level
s(r) O(n)
For a node of depth 2log4/3n,
the expected input size is
one s(a) s(b) O(n)
The expected height of the
quick-sort tree is O(log n) O(log n)
s(c) s(d) s(e) s(f) O(n)
The amount or work done at
the nodes of the same
depth is O(n)
Thus, the expected running
time of quick-sort is O(n log total expected time: O(n log n)
n)
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 14
In-Place Quick-Sort
Quick-sort can be
implemented to run in-
place Algorithm inPlaceQuickSort(S, l, r)
In the partition step, we use Input sequence S, ranks l and
replace operations to r
rearrange the elements of Output sequence S with the
the input sequence such elements of rank
between l and r
that rearranged in
the elements less than the increasing order
pivot have rank less than h if l r
the elements equal to the
return
pivot have rank between h
and k i a random integer between l and r
the elements greater than x [Link](i)
the pivot have rank greater (h, k) inPlacePartition(x)
than k inPlaceQuickSort(S, l, h - 1)
The recursive calls consider inPlaceQuickSort(S, k + 1, r)
elements with rank less
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 15
than h
In-Place Partitioning
Perform the partition using two indices to split S
into L and E U G (a similar method can split E U G
into jE and G). k
3 2 5 1 0 7 3 5 9 2 7 9 8 9 7 6 9 (pivot = 6)
Repeat until j and k cross:
Scan j to the right until finding an element > x.
Scan k to the left until finding an element < x.
Swap elements at indices j and k
j k
3 2 5 1 0 7 3 5 9 2 7 9 8 9 7 6 9
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 16
Summary of Sorting
Algorithms
Algorithm Time Notes
in-place
selection-sort O(n2) slow (good for small
inputs)
in-place
insertion-sort O(n2) slow (good for small
inputs)
in-place, randomized
O(n log n)
quick-sort fastest (good for large
expected inputs)
in-place
heap-sort O(n log n) fast (good for large inputs)
sequential data access
merge-sort O(n log n) fast (good for huge inputs)
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Quick-Sort 17