Sorting Algorithms in Python
Introduction
Sometimes, data we store or retrieve in an application can have little or no order. We may have to rearrange the data to correctly process it or efficiently use it. Over the years, computer scientists have created many sorting algorithms to organize data.
In this article we’ll have a look at popular sorting algorithms, understand how they work and code them in Python. We’ll also compare how quickly they sort items in a list.
For simplicity, algorithm implementations would be sorting lists of numbers in ascending order. Of course, you’re free to adapt them to your needs
If you’d like to learn about a specific algorithm, you can jump to it here:
Bubble Sort
This simple sorting algorithm iterates over a list, comparing elements in pairs and swapping them until the larger elements “bubble up” to the end of the list, and the smaller elements stay at the “bottom”.
Explanation
We begin by comparing the first two elements of the list. If the first element is larger than the second element, we swap them. If they are already in order we leave them as is. We then move to the next pair of elements, compare