FromWikipedia: Bubble sort, sometimes referred to as sinking sort, is a simple sorting algorithm that repeatedly steps through the list to be sorted, compares each pair of adjacent items and swaps them if they are in the wrong order. The pass through the list is repeated until no swaps are needed, which indicates that the list is sorted.

Properties

• Worst case performanceO(n^2)
• Best case performanceO(n)
• Average case performanceO(n^2)

FromWikipedia: Insertion sort is a simple sorting algorithm that builds the final sorted array (or list) one item at a time. It is much less efficient on large lists than more advanced algorithms such as quicksort, heapsort, or merge sort.

Properties

• Worst case performanceO(n^2)
• Best case performanceO(n)
• Average case performanceO(n^2)

FromWikipedia: In computer science, merge sort (also commonly spelled mergesort) is an efficient, general-purpose, comparison-based sorting algorithm. Most implementations produce a stable sort, which means that the implementation preserves the input order of equal elements in the sorted output. Mergesort is a divide and conquer algorithm that was invented by John von Neumann in 1945.

Properties

• Worst case performanceO(n log n)
• Best case performanceO(n)
• Average case performanceO(n)

FromWikipedia: Quicksort (sometimes called partition-exchange sort) is an efficient sorting algorithm, serving as a systematic method for placing the elements of an array in order.

Properties

• Worst case performanceO(n^2)
• Best case performanceO(n log n) or O(n) with three-way partition
• Average case performanceO(n^2)

FromWikipedia: The algorithm divides the input list into two parts: the sublist of items already sorted, which is built up from left to right at the front (left) of the list, and the sublist of items remaining to be sorted that occupy the rest of the list. Initially, the sorted sublist is empty and the unsorted sublist is the entire input list. The algorithm proceeds by finding the smallest (or largest, depending on sorting order) element in the unsorted sublist, exchanging (swapping) it with the leftmost unsorted element (putting it in sorted order), and moving the sublist boundaries one element to the right.

Properties

• Worst case performanceO(n^2)
• Best case performanceO(n^2)
• Average case performanceO(n^2)

FromWikipedia: Shellsort is a generalization of insertion sort that allows the exchange of items that are far apart. The idea is to arrange the list of elements so that, starting anywhere, considering every nth element gives a sorted list. Such a list is said to be h-sorted. Equivalently, it can be thought of as h interleaved lists, each individually sorted.

Properties

• Worst case performance O(nlog2 2n)
• Best case performance O(n log n)
• Average case performance depends on gap sequence

Comparing the complexity of sorting algorithms (Bubble Sort, Insertion Sort, Selection Sort)

Complexity Graphs