40 Algorithms Every Programmer Should Know

Understanding the Logic Behind Bubble Sort

Bubble sort is based on various iterations, called passes. For a list of size N, bubble sort will have N-1 passes. Let's focus on the first iteration: pass one.

The goal of pass one is pushing the highest value to the top of the list. We will see the highest value of the list bubbling its way to the top as pass one progresses.

Bubble sort compares adjacent neighbor values. If the value at a higher position is higher in value than the value at a lower index, we exchange the values. This iteration continues until we reach the end of the list. This is shown in the following diagram:

Let's now see how ...