Bubble Sort

Bubble Sorting

Among variaous other sorting algorithm, bubble sort algorithm is one of the popular and frequently used algorithm to sort elements either in ascending or descending order.

Bubble sort algorithm starts by comparing the first two elements of an array and swapping if necessary, i.e., if you want to sort the elements of array in ascending order and if the first element is greater than second then, you need to swap the elements but, if the first element is smaller than second, you mustn't swap the element. Then, again second and third elements are compared and swapped if it is necessary and this process go on until last and second last element is compared and swapped. This completes the first step of bubble sort.

If there are n elements to be sorted then, the process mentioned above should be repeated n-1 times to get required result. But, for better performance, in second step, last and second last elements are not compared becuase, the proper element is automatically placed at last after first step. Similarly, in third step, last and second last and second last and third last elements are not compared and so on.

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Click Here for example code

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Complexity Analysis

Bubble sort has worst-case and average complexity both О(n²), where n is the number of items being sorted. There exist many sorting algorithms with substantially better worst-case or average complexity of O(n log n). Even other О(n²) sorting algorithms, such as insertion sort, tend to have better performance than bubble sort. Therefore, bubble sort is not a practical sorting algorithm when n is large.
The only significant advantage that bubble sort has over most other implementations, even quicksort, but not insertion sort, is that the ability to detect that the list is sorted is efficiently built into the algorithm. Performance of bubble sort over an already-sorted list (best-case) is O(n). By contrast, most other algorithms, even those with better average-case complexity, perform their entire sorting process on the set and thus are more complex. However, not only doesinsertion sort have this mechanism too, but it also performs better on a list that is substantially sorted (having a small number of inversions).