Skip to Content
Beginning Programming ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE FOR DUMMIES®
book

Beginning Programming ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE FOR DUMMIES®

by Wallace Wang
June 2008
Beginner
695 pages
14h 9m
English
For Dummies
Content preview from Beginning Programming ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE FOR DUMMIES®

Chapter IV.1. Sorting Algorithms

Every program handles data (numeric or text). Besides saving data, most programs also need to organize that data in some way, which involves sorting that data in a specific order, such as alphabetically or numerically. A database needs to sort names alphabetically by last name or by sales region whereas a video game needs to sort the top ten highest scores.

Despite the simple idea behind sorting a list of names or numbers, sorting is practically a field of computer science in itself. Computer scientists constantly study different ways to sort through data to find the fastest, most efficient method possible. Each of these different sorting methods is a sorting algorithm.

An algorithm is a fancy term for a method of doing something, so a sorting algorithm is a specific method for telling the computer how to sort data. The reason computer scientists keep creating and studying sorting algorithms is because no single sorting algorithm is best for all purposes.

Some sorting algorithms are easy to create but work slowly. Other sorting algorithms are much harder to create but work much faster. Ironically, some sorting algorithms work horribly when sorting a small number of items, such as a dozen numbers, but work quickly when sorting thousands of items.

Four factors for considering sorting algorithms include

  • Ease of implementation

  • Speed

  • Memory requirements

  • Stability

Ease of implementation defines how complicated the sorting algorithm is to implement in any programming ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

Code Complete, 2nd Edition

Code Complete, 2nd Edition

Steve McConnell

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780470108543Purchase book