The idea of swapping adjacent elements to sort a list of items can also be used to implement the insertion sort. An insertion sorting algorithm maintains a sub-list that is always sorted, while the other portion of the list remains unsorted. We take elements from the unsorted sub-list and insert them in the correct position in the sorted sub-list, in such a way that this sub-list remains sorted.
In insertion sorting, we start with one element, assuming it to be sorted, and then take another element from the unsorted sub-list and place it at the correct position (in relation to the first element) in the sorted sub-list. This means that our sorted sub-list now has two elements. Then, we again take another element ...