NEED OF DIFFERENT SORTING TECHNIQUES

Srushti Nikam
16 min readJan 9, 2022

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This web log offers a quick rationalization of the requirement for the foremost usually used sorting techniques, at the side of their fascinating applications and intricacies.

Now the question arises, WHAT IS SORTING?

Sorting within the arrangement refers to the transcription of information in an exceedingly chosen order. Sorting knowledge makes it easier to fleetly and easily search through it. A wordbook is that the most simple form of sorting. before the web, if you wished to go looking up a word in an exceedingly wordbook, you’d make out alphabetically. This created it easy. Imagine surfing an oversized book containing all of nation words from round the world Associate in Nursing exceedingly in a very} untidy sequence! it is the same dread that an engineer can feel if their knowledge is not sorted and arranged. Sorting, in an exceedingly shell, makes our life easier.

We’ll go over the various sorting algorithms in this BLOG. But first, let’s define a sorting algorithm and the concept of sorting in a data structure.

WHAT IS SORTING ALGORITHM?

A sorting algorithm is an algorithm that arranges data in a specific order. The primary objective is to arrange the things in the correct sequence so that the data may be re-organized to make searching easier.

A sorting algorithm is nothing more than a sequence of commands or instructions. An array is used as an input in this case, and the sorting algorithm executes operations on it to produce a sorted array.

SORTING is taught early to assist interested pupils get an understanding of deeper computer science concepts such as divide-and-conquer algorithms, binary trees, heaps, and so on.

Here’s an illustration.

Assume you have an array of strings: [h, j, k, i ,n, m, o, l]

Sorting would now provide an alphabetical output array.

[h, i ,j ,k, l, m, n, o] as output

Let’s take a closer look at sorting in data structures.

Sorting Categories

Sorting is divided into two categories:

Internal sorting :occurs when the input data is structured in such a way that it may be modified in the main memory at the same time.

External sorting: If the input data is too large to be changed in memory all at once, it must be saved on a hard drive, floppy disc, or other storage device. This is known as external sorting.

IMPORTANCE OF SORTING TECHNIQUES

Sorting features a wide selection of applications in applied science since it should oft scale back the algorithmic complexness of a retardant. A fast Google search indicates that there square measure over forty distinct sorting algorithms in use within the computing business nowadays. is not that crazy? You will be amazed after you perceive however useful sorting algorithms square measure in world. a number of the higher instances of real-world implementation of constant are: Bubble sorting is employed in tv programming to order stations supported audience observation time! External merge type is employed by informationbases to type data sets that square measure too large to store altogether into memory! Sports scores square measure promptly sorted in period mistreatment the short type algorithm!!

APPLICATION OF SORTING ALGORITHMS

Computing within the industrial sector a lot of of this info is organized by sorting in government agencies, monetary establishments, and industrial companies. whether or not the data accounts square measure to be sorted by name or range, transactions square measure to be sorted by time or place, mail is to be sorted by code or address, files square measure to be sorted by name or date, or no matter, process such information can nearly definitely involve a algorithmic rule somewhere on the manner. Find out what you’ll be able to. Keeping information in sorted order permits the traditional binary search rule to seem through it a lot of effectively.

Calculations supported numbers. Accuracy (how close to square measure we tend to to the right answer?) may be a common topic in scientific computing. Accuracy is important once conducting voluminous computations mistreatment approximated values, like the floating-point illustration of real numbers that we tend to generally use on computers. Some numerical algorithms use priority queues and sorting to manage computation accuracy.

Types of Sorting in Data Structures

Comparison-based sorting: A comparator is defined in comparison-based sorting approaches to compare components or items of a data sample. The ordering of items is defined by this comparator. Bubble Sort and Merge Sort are two examples.

Counting-based sorting: These sorting algorithms do no comparisons between elements and instead rely on computed assumptions during execution. Counting Sort and Radix Sort are two examples.

Sorting in-place vs. not-in-place: In data structures, in-place sorting algorithms change the ordering of array members within the original array. Bubble Sort and Selection Sort are examples of in-place sorting methods. Not-in-Place sorting algorithms, on the other hand, sort the original array using an auxiliary data structure. Merge Sort and Quick sort are examples of a Not in Place sorting algorithm.

BUBBLE SORT

Bubble sort is a sorting algorithm, which essentially implies that it is a method used to sort an unordered list into a certain order. The bubble sort operates on provided lists by exchanging nearby items or data in order until the whole list of items or data is retrieved in a sequence based on their key values. This approach is popular and simple for data execution since it does not require additional storage space.

Although bubble sort is not the most efficient sorting algorithm, it does have two major advantages over many other sorting methods.

1.For starters, it is one of the easiest sorting algorithms to build, especially for a novice, therefore it serves as a very useful learning tool as well as a straightforward approach to sort relatively short lists.

2.Second, we are able to simply determine whether or not an inventory is already kinded with bubble sort and finish our code early, creating it handy once we square measure given a sorted list however don’t understand that the list is sorted prior to time.

Algorithm:

Step 1: For the supplied lists, consider the set of elements that can be of any data type.
Step 2: Using a one-by-one pair, swap the first two data for the supplied lists.
Step 3: Repeat the process for all of the items or data in the specified list.
Step 4: Return the answer for doing the same.

Time Comp & Space Comp:

Bubble Sort has a time complexity of O and a space complexity of O. (n2).
The key advantage of Bubble Sort is the algorithm’s simplicity.
Bubble Sort has an O(1) space complexity since it only requires a single additional memory space, namely for the temp variable.
Also, when the list is already sorted, the best case time complexity is O(n).

Bubble sort time complexity:

Best case scenario: When the array is already sorted, the best-case situation happens. In this situation, there will be no switching in the first iteration (The swapped variable will be false). As a result, when this occurs, we exit the loop after the first iteration. As a result, the time complexity in the best-case situation is O(n), because it must visit all of the components once.

Worst-case and best-case scenarios: In Bubble Sort, n-1 comparisons are performed in the first pass, n-2 in the second pass, n-3 in the third pass, and so on. As a result, the total number of comparisons will be:

Sum = (n-1) + (n-2) + (n-3) + ….. + 3 + 2 + 1

Sum = n(n-1)/2
As a result, the time complexity is of the order of n2 or O. (n2).

Bubble sorting’s space complexity

The approach has an O(1) space complexity since it only requires a single extra memory space for a temporary variable used for swapping.

APPLICATION

This is a process that we have all gone through since we were children. Allow me to transport you back in time to your high school physical education or sports lessons. Lined up in a random sequence in front of the instructor, who has been tasked with arranging you all in ascending height order. The bubble sort method can be useful in this situation. In this scenario, each individual’s height is a component of the list. With each pass of the teacher’s hand over the kids, they gradually begin to stand in a more organized manner, until they are all standing according to height.

QUICK SORT

Quick Sort is a Divide and Conquer algorithm. It selects an element as the pivot and splits the specified array around the selected pivot.

There are several versions of quick Sort that select pivot in various ways:

  1. As a rule of thumb, the first element should always be used as the pivot.
  2. As a rule of thumb, the pivot should always be the final piece.
  3. As a pivot, choose something at random.
  4. As a pivot, use the median.

Algorithm:

  1. Select a pivot element.
  2. Partition the array using pivot value.
  3. Quicksort left partition recursively.
  4. Quicksort right partition recursively.

Time Comp & Space Comp

  1. The best case scenario is when the partitioning algorithm always chooses the middle element as a pivot. The best case recurrence is shown here. T(n) = 2T(n/2) + (n). So, time complexity is O(n log n)
  2. Worst Case: The worst case scenario happens when the partition procedure always chooses the largest or smallest element as a pivot. If we take the preceding partition technique, in which the last element is always chosen as a pivot, the worst case scenario is when the array is already sorted in rising or decreasing order. The worst-case scenario is shown below.
    T(n) = T(n-1) + (n). So, time complexity is O(n²)
  3. Case in Point: To do average case analysis, we must analyze every potential permutation of the array and compute the time required by each permutation, which does not appear to be a straightforward task. So, time complexity is O(n log n)
  4. Space Complexity is O(n)

Although Quick Sort’s worst-case time complexity is O(n2), which is greater than the worst-case time complexity of many other sorting algorithms such as Merge Sort and Heap Sort, Quick Sort is quicker in follow as a result of its inner loop are often expeditiously enforced on most architectures and in most real-world knowledge.. Quick Sort may be accomplished in a variety of ways by varying the pivot selection so that the worst-case scenario happens only seldom for a particular sort of data. Merge sort, on the other hand, is typically thought to be superior when data is large and stored in external storage.

Application

It is utilized in the operational analysis and event-driven simulation. Numerical computations and in scientific research, for accuracy in calculations most of the efficiently developed algorithm uses priority queue and quick sort is used for sorting.

Insertion Sort

Insertion sort is a basic sorting algorithm that operates in the same manner that you would sort playing cards in your hands. Values from the unsorted section are selected and assigned to the appropriate position in the sorted component.
Insertion sort is an efficient sorting algorithm since it does not utilize for loops to execute on predefined criteria, but instead uses a single while loop to prevent additional steps after the array is sorted.

Algorithm

To sort an array of size n in ascending order, use the following syntax:
1. Iterate through the array from a[1] to a[n].
2. Contrast the present element (key) with its predecessor.
3. Compare the essential element to the ones before it if it is smaller than its predecessor. To make room for the switched element, move the larger elements one place higher.

Time Comp & Space Comp

Worst Case Time Complexity: O(n²)

Best Case Time Complexity: O(n)

Average Time Complexity: O(n²)

Space Complexity: O(1)

APPLICATION

The primary distinction between bubble sort and insertion sort is that bubble sort sorts by examining neighboring data components and swapping them if they are out of order, whereas insertion sort sorts by moving one element at a time to a partially sorted array.
Do you recall how you used to arrange your deck of cards when you were younger? You begin by selecting one card, then selecting the second card and placing it after the first card if it is larger or before the first card if it is smaller; and finally, selecting another card and inserting it into its right place.

SELECTION SORT

Selection sort is a simple algorithm. This sorting technique is AN in-place comparison-based algorithmic program that divides the list into 2 halves, the sorted portion on the left finish and also the unsorted half on the correct. Initially, the sorted section is empty, whereas the unsorted section contains the entire list.
The smallest component from the unsorted array is chosen and swapped with the left component, leading to that component turning into a member of the sorted array. This operation is perennial till the unsorted array border is rapt one component to the correct. This operation is repeated until the unsorted array border is moved one element to the right.

Algorithm

Set min to position 0 in step 1.
Step 2: Look for the smallest entry in the list.
Step 3: Replace the value at location MIN with a different one.
Step 4: Increase MIN to point to the next element.
Step 5 Continue until the list is sorted.

Time Complexity

Analysis of Time Complexity- The selection sort method is made up of two stacked loops.
It has an O(n2) time complexity due to the two nested loops.

Application

The selection sort’s key benefit is that it works well on a tiny list. Because it is an in-place sorting method, no additional temporary storage beyond what is required to store the original list is required. The selection sort has the disadvantage of being inefficient when working with a large list of objects.

Consider another scenario in which you have 200 glasses of varying sizes: 100 ml, 110 ml, 120 ml, 130 ml,…., 2080 ml, and 2090 ml . On huge lists, this sort technique is inefficient because searching for the precise size takes a long time, yet this is how selection sort works.

MERGE SORT

Merge sort is a sorting technique that is based on the divide and conquer strategy. Merge sort splits the array into equal parts before combining them in a sorted fashion.

Algorithm

The divide and conquer strategy divides the problem at hand into smaller sub-problems, which are subsequently tackled individually.
2. If we continue to divide the subproblems into smaller and smaller subproblems, we may finally reach a point where no more division is conceivable.
3. The tiniest “atomic” sub-problems (fractions) are solved. The solutions to all sub-problems are eventually integrated to yield the answer to the main problem.
Worst Case Time and Space Compensation [Big-O] Time Complexity: O(n*log n)
Best Case Scenario [Big-omega] Time Complexity: O(n*log n)
O(n*log n) is the average time complexity [Big-theta].

Space Complexity: O (n)

Merge Sort has a temporal complexity of O(n*Log n) in all three situations (worst, average, and best) since it always divides the array into two halves and takes linear time to merge two halve

APPLICATION

This scenario might be a real-world application for a merge sort. Assume that your workplace was completely wrecked overnight by some criminals or the like, with all of your multiple file cabinets with folders and contents thrown around. It is now 9 a.m., and the auditors are scheduled to arrive at 11 a.m. for a critical examination. By 11 a.m., you must have all of these files back on track. You dash down the hall, enlisting the help of everybody you can find to sort a large, similar-sized file into alphabetical order so that you may MERGE the files back into the order they were when you turned out the lights last night.

The e-commerce software Have you ever noticed on any e-commerce website, they have this part of “You might like,” where they have an array for all the user accounts and then whatever has the least number of inversions with your array of selections, they start promoting what they have bought or like.

COUNTING SORT

Counting Sort is an intriguing sorting approach since it focuses on the frequency of distinct components within a certain range (something along the lines of hashing).

It works by counting the number of items with distinct key values and then constructing a sorted array based on the location of each unique member in the unsorted sequence.

It differs from the preceding algorithms in that it does no comparisons between the input data pieces.

ALGORITHM

Find the largest element (let it be max) in the supplied array.

Create a max+1-length array containing all items. 0.
In the count array, store the count of each element at its appropriate index.

Keep the cumulative total of the count array’s items. It aids in the placement of the elements in the correct index of the sorted array.

In the count array, get the index of each element in the original array. This returns the total number of items.
Reduce the count of each element by one once it has been placed correctly.

Time Complexity

Best- O(n + k)

Worst- O(n + k)

Average- O(n + k)

Space Complexity O(max)

Time Complexities

There are mainly four main loops.

for-loop time of counting

1st: O(max)

2nd: O(size)

3rd: O(max)

4th: O(size)

Overall complexity = O(max)+O(size)+O(max)+O(size) = O(max + size)

  • Worst Case Complexity: O(n + k)
  • Best Case Complexity: O(n + k)
  • Average Case Complexity: O(n + k)

In all the above cases, the complexity is the same because no matter how the elements are placed in the array, the algorithm goes through n+ k times.

Space Complexity

The space complexity of Counting Sort is O(max).

Applications

Counting sort is used when:

  • there are smaller integers with multiple counts.
  • linear complexity is the need.

RADIX SORT

  • As you saw earlier, counting sort stands apart because it’s not a comparison-based sorting algorithm like Merge Sort or Bubble Sort, thereby reducing its time complexity to linear time.
    BUT, counting sort fails if the input array ranges from 1 to n² in which case its time complexity increases to O(n²).
    The basic idea behind radix sorting is to extend the functionality of counting sort to get a better time-complexity when input array elements range from 1 till n².

Algorithm:

Sort the input array in line with the ith digit for every digit I wherever I ranges from the smallest amount digit to the foremost digit of variety. keep in mind that we’re mistreatment count kind since it is a reliable sorting methodology

Time complexity:

O(d(n + b)), where b indicates the array element’s base (eg- 10 represents decimal)

Space complexity

is O(n+ d), where d is the maximum number of digits in an array element.

APPLICATION

Radix sorting finds use in parallel computing.
It is also employed in the DC3 algorithm for constructing a suffix array.

HEAP SORT

Heap sort is a comparison-based sorting method that uses the Binary Heap data structure. It is similar to selection sort in that we first identify the minimal element and place it at the beginning. We go through the same steps for the remaining pieces.

ALGORITHM

  1. On the list, call the build Max Heap() method. This function, also known as heapify(), creates a heap from a list using display style O(n)O(n) operations.
  2. Replace the first and last elements in the list. Reduce the list’s range by one.
  3. To sift the new initial member to its proper index in the heap, use the list’s siftDown() method.
  4. Unless the considered range of the list is one element, go to step (2)

Time Complexity:

Worst Case = Average Case = Best Case = O (n log n)
The heap sort technique takes the same amount of time for an array of any size.

The extraction operation in a heap structure with n items takes logarithmic time, O. (log n). When there are n elements in the heap, the extraction takes O(log n) time, then when there are (n — 1) elements, the next extraction takes O(log (n — 1)), and so on until there is only one element in the heap and the extraction takes O(log 1) time.

O(log n) + O(log (n -1)) +… + O(1) = O(log (n!)) is the overall time complexity. In a simplified version, the temporal complexity of O(n log n) best captures this difficulty.

Space Complexity:

Because no additional data structures are used, heap sort is an in-place sorting method. As a result, its spatial complexity is O(1).

APPLICATION

To rapidly locate the smallest and largest elements in a collection or array of things.
Priority queues are used in graph techniques such as Dijkstra’s algorithm (shortest route), Prim’s algorithm (minimum spanning tree), and Huffman encoding (data compression).

AFTER LOOKING INTO DETAIL ABOUT EACH ALGORITHM THERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS WHICH WOULD ARISE IN EVERYONE’S MIND.

Which sorting method is the simplest?

If you’re familiar with sorting algorithms, you’ll note that Bubble Sort is the most basic of them all. This algorithm’s core principle is to scan the full array of items and compare each neighboring element. The switching action is now only performed when the items are not ordered.

With Bubble Sort, you just compare neighboring entries and the array is sorted. This is why it is regarded as the most basic sorting algorithm.

Which data structure sorting method is the fastest?

Quicksort is often regarded as the quickest sorting algorithm available. Quicksort has a time complexity of O(n log n) in the best case, O(n log n) in the average case, and O(n²) in the worst case. Quicksort is renowned as the fastest sorting algorithm because to its superior performance across all average case inputs. The volume of data will also have a large impact on the speed. When all sorting algorithms are compared, Quicksort is the fastest due to its average case inputs.

Conclusion

Quicksort is efficient for both small and big integers, according to the results. In reality, Quicksort is substantially quicker than other O(n log n) algorithms. In terms of swapping, the Bubble sort conducts the most swaps because each element is only compared to nearby components and swapped if they are out of order. Insertion Sort sorts tiny arrays quickly, whereas large arrays take a long time. All Sorting Techniques are critical for the code’s efficient operation in memory management.

THANK YOU!!!

SRUSHTI NIKAM

KRISHA PATEL

NIKITA PUNDE

SHREYASH PATIL

SUDHANSHU PATHRABE

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