Selection sort is a simple sorting algorithm that works by repeatedly finding the minimum element from the unsorted portion of the list and swapping it with the leftmost unsorted element. This process is repeated until the entire list is sorted.
How Selection Sort Works?
Selection sort works as follows:
- Start with the first unsorted element in the list.
- Find the minimum element in the unsorted portion of the list.
- Swap the minimum element with the leftmost unsorted element.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the entire list is sorted.
Advantages of Selection Sort:
Selection sort has several advantages, including:
- Simplicity: Selection sort is one of the simplest sorting algorithms to implement.
- Stability: Selection sort is a stable sorting algorithm, meaning that elements with equal values maintain their relative order in the sorted output.
- In-place: Selection sort does not require any additional memory space beyond the original list.
Disadvantages of Selection Sort:
However, selection sort also has some disadvantages, including:
- Inefficiency: Selection sort is not very efficient, as it has a time complexity of O(n^2). This means that the running time of selection sort grows quadratically with the size of the list.
- Not suitable for large lists: Due to its inefficiency, selection sort is not suitable for sorting large lists.
Conclusion:
Selection sort is a simple and stable sorting algorithm that is easy to implement. However, it is not very efficient and is not suitable for sorting large lists. For larger lists, more efficient sorting algorithms such as merge sort or quicksort are typically used.