A Common-Sense Guide to Data Structures and Algorithms

Bubble Sort in Action

Let’s walk through a complete example. Assume that we wanted to sort the array [4, 2, 7, 1, 3]. It’s currently out of order, and we want to produce an array containing the same values in the correct, ascending order.

Let’s begin Passthrough #1:

This is our starting array:

Step #1: First, we compare the 4 and the 2. They’re out of order:

Step #2: So we swap them:

Step #3: Next, we compare the 4 and the 7:

They’re in the correct ...