An Introduction to Sorting Algorithms
This blog post is a continuation of a series of blog posts about Algorithms, as it has been a hard concept for me to grasp as a programmer. Feel to check out the first blogpost about Algorithms, where I provide an introduction of what Algorithms are and an example of an algorithm and the second blog post about Data Structures, where I explained what are Data Structures and what are some types of Data Structures. Also check out the third blog post about Time Complexity and Space Complexity, which I provide an explanation of Time and Space Complexity. I have also written a blog post about Big O Notation. Recently I have written blog posts about Binary Search, Linear Search and Interpolation Search.
This blog post I will focus on the Sorting Algorithms. I will explain what are Sorting Algorithms, and touch upon different types of Sorting Algorithms.
What is a Sorting Algorithm?
So why is sorting important? Well we use it daily:
- The way your clothes are organized
- Where your dishes are in the kitchen
- Your books on your bookshelf
They may not be in perfect order, but in a way that makes it easier for you to search for things.
There are many sorting algorithms for many types of data
- You sort your dishes by size and shape, not alphabetically
- You sort my books alphabetically, not by color
- You sort post-its notes in reverse chronological order
There are lots of different types of data computers need to sort, just like in the real world.
An example of a Sorting Algorithm:
Types of Sorting Algorithms:
All of them differ in performance, and performance often depends on data characteristics.
Overall Sorting Algorithms are an important concept to understand when it comes to algorithms. Thank you for reading this blog post. In my upcoming blog posts, I will go in further detail about different types of Sorting Algorithms, such as Insertion sort, Selection Sort, Merge Sort, and Bucket Sort.
