Objectives

• Understand the standard sort algorithms:

• Bubble sort
• Insertion sort
• Merge sort

• Be able to apply each algorithm to a data set

• Be able to Identify an algorithm if given the
code for it
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Starter
• Both people and computers often need data
to be sorted
• Give five types of data that people need to be sorted
• Give one reason why a computer would work more efficiently
if a list was sorted
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Starter
• Types of data that people need sorted
• Index cards/records of customer details
• Directories and dictionaries
• House numbers
• Library books
• Stock in a warehouse
• and many more…
• Reasons why a computer will work more efficiently
with sorted lists
• Computers can use a binary search with sorted lists which is
far more efficient than a linear search
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Sorting
• Data sets frequently need to be sorted
Rank Name Count Rank Name Count
• Look at the two
data sets of the 1 Oliver 5 390 1 Olivia 4 598
top 10 boys and 2 George 4 960 2 Amelia 3 941
girls names 3 Harry 4 512 3 Ava 3 110
in 2019 4 Noah 4 107 4 Isla 3 046
• What other orders 5 Jack 3 988 5 Emily 2 676
could they 6 Leo 3 721 6 Mia 2 490
be sorted in?
7 Arthur 3 644 7 Isabella 2 369
• Why might you 8 Muhammad 3 507 8 Sophia 2 344
need to sort the 9 Oscar 3 459 9 Ella 2 326
data sets?
10 Charlie 3 365 10 Grace 2 301

Source: ONS (2019)

Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Sorting
• The data sets could be sorted as follows:
• Count order (which will be the same as the rank order)
• Alphabetical order
• Reverse alphabetical or count order

• The girls and boys data sets could be combined to

show the top 20 names in England and Wales
• Again these could be sorted by count or name
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

The bubble sort

• Start with the leftmost item
• Compare this item with the one next to it
• If the one next to it is less, swap the items
• Repeat for all the other items
• At the end of one pass through the list, the largest item is at
the end of the list
• Repeat the process until the items are sorted
• Suppose you have a list of numbers to be sorted:

9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Bubble sort – First pass

9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2 • Each item is compared
5 9 4 15 3 8 11 2 with the one on its right,
and swapped if it is
5 4 9 15 3 8 11 2
larger
5 4 9 15 3 8 11 2
• At the end of the first
5 4 9 3 15 8 11 2 pass the largest item
5 4 9 3 8 15 11 2 bubbles through to the
end of the list
5 4 9 3 8 11 15 2
• (Mauve indicates sorted
5 4 9 3 8 11 2 15
items)
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

First pass Second pass

9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2 5 4 9 3 8 11 2 15

5 9 4 15 3 8 11 2 4 5 9 3 8 11 2 15

5 4 9 15 3 8 11 2 4 5 9 3 8 11 2 15

5 4 9 15 3 8 11 2 4 5 3 9 8 11 2 15

5 4 9 3 15 8 11 2 4 5 3 8 9 11 2 15

5 4 9 3 8 15 11 2 4 5 3 8 9 11 2 15

5 4 9 3 8 11 15 2 4 5 3 8 9 2 11 15

5 4 9 3 8 11 2 15
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Second pass Third pass

5 4 9 3 8 11 2 15 4 5 3 8 9 2 11 15

4 5 9 3 8 11 2 15 4 5 3 8 9 2 11 15

4 5 9 3 8 11 2 15 4 3 5 8 9 2 11 15

4 5 3 9 8 11 2 15 4 3 5 8 9 2 11 15

4 5 3 8 9 11 2 15 4 3 5 8 9 2 11 15

4 5 3 8 9 11 2 15 4 3 5 8 2 9 11 15

4 5 3 8 9 2 11 15
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Third pass Fourth pass

4 5 3 8 9 2 11 15 3 4 5 8 2 9 11 15

4 5 3 8 9 2 11 15 3 4 5 8 2 9 11 15

4 3 5 8 9 2 11 15 3 4 5 8 2 9 11 15

4 3 5 8 9 2 11 15 3 4 5 8 2 9 11 15

4 3 5 8 9 2 11 15 3 4 5 2 8 9 11 15

4 3 5 8 2 9 11 15
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Fourth pass Fifth pass

3 4 5 8 2 9 11 15 3 4 5 2 8 9 11 15

3 4 5 8 2 9 11 15 3 4 5 2 8 9 11 15

3 4 5 8 2 9 11 15 3 4 5 2 8 9 11 15

3 4 5 8 2 9 11 15 3 4 2 5 8 9 11 15

3 4 5 2 8 9 11 15
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Fifth pass Sixth pass

3 4 5 2 8 9 11 15 3 4 2 5 8 9 11 15

3 4 5 2 8 9 11 15 3 4 2 5 8 9 11 15

3 4 5 2 8 9 11 15 3 2 4 5 8 9 11 15

3 4 2 5 8 9 11 15

Sixth pass Seventh pass

3 4 2 5 8 9 11 15 3 2 4 5 8 9 11 15

3 4 2 5 8 9 11 15 2 3 4 5 8 9 11 15

3 2 4 5 8 9 11 15 Seven passes through the list of eight

numbers ensures that they are sorted
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Worksheet 3
• Now complete Task 1 on Worksheet 3
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Insertion sort
• This algorithm sorts one data item at a time
• It is similar to how you might sort a deck of cards
• One item is taken from the list, and placed in the
correct position
• This is repeated until there are no more unsorted items in
the list
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Insertion sort
List to be sorted: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Insertion sort
List to be sorted: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

Leave the first item at the start: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Insertion sort
List to be sorted: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

Leave the first item at the start: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

5 is now inserted into the sorted list: 5 9 4 15 3 8 11 2

Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Insertion sort
List to be sorted: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

Leave the first item at the start: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

5 is now inserted into the sorted list: 5 9 4 15 3 8 11 2

4 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Insertion sort
List to be sorted: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

Leave the first item at the start: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

5 is now inserted into the sorted list: 5 9 4 15 3 8 11 2

4 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

15 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Insertion sort
List to be sorted: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

Leave the first item at the start: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

5 is now inserted into the sorted list: 5 9 4 15 3 8 11 2

4 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

15 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

3 is now inserted into the sorted list: 3 4 5 9 15 8 11 2

Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Insertion sort
List to be sorted: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

Leave the first item at the start: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

5 is now inserted into the sorted list: 5 9 4 15 3 8 11 2

4 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

15 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

3 is now inserted into the sorted list: 3 4 5 9 15 8 11 2

8 is now inserted into the sorted list: 3 4 5 8 9 15 11 2

Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Insertion sort
List to be sorted: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

Leave the first item at the start: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

5 is now inserted into the sorted list: 5 9 4 15 3 8 11 2

4 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

15 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

3 is now inserted into the sorted list: 3 4 5 9 15 8 11 2

8 is now inserted into the sorted list: 3 4 5 8 9 15 11 2

11 is now inserted into the sorted list: 3 4 5 8 9 11 15 2

Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Insertion sort
List to be sorted: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

Leave the first item at the start: 9 5 4 15 3 8 11 2

5 is now inserted into the sorted list: 5 9 4 15 3 8 11 2

4 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

15 is now inserted into the sorted list: 4 5 9 15 3 8 11 2

3 is now inserted into the sorted list: 3 4 5 9 15 8 11 2

8 is now inserted into the sorted list: 3 4 5 8 9 15 11 2

11 is now inserted into the sorted list: 3 4 5 8 9 11 15 2

2 is now inserted into the sorted list: 2 3 4 5 8 9 11 15

Which item did not have to move?

Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Worksheet 3
• Now complete Task 2 on Worksheet 3
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Merging two lists

List A List B

6 8 13 20 2 7 11 16

• The following slides show how to merge two sorted

lists together
• Read item from list A; Read item from list B.
• Write smaller to output list.
• Read next item from the list that held the smaller value
• Repeat until all items written to output list
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Merging two lists

List A List B

6 8 13 20 2 7 11 16

• Read item from list A 6 Compare and write

smaller item to output
• Read item from list B 2
Output list

2
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Merging two lists

List A List B

6 8 13 20 2 7 11 16

• Read item from list A 6 Compare and write

smaller item to output
• Read item from list B 7
Output list

2 6
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Merging two lists

List A List B

6 8 13 20 2 7 11 16

• Read item from list A 8 Compare and write

smaller item to output
• Read item from list B 7
Output list

2 6 7
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Merging two lists

List A List B

6 8 13 20 2 7 11 16

• Read item from list A 8 Compare and write

smaller item to output
• Read item from list B 11
Output list

2 6 7 8
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Merging two lists

List A List B

6 8 13 20 2 7 11 16

• Continue with the rest of the comparisons

Output list

2 6 7 8 11 13 16 20
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Merge sort
• This is much more efficient than the bubble sort
• The basic steps are:
• Divide the unsorted list in two
• Continue to divide these lists into two until there is
just one item in each list
• Now merge each list back until there is only one
list remaining – which will be the fully sorted list
• Perform a merge sort on the following list:

8 13 6 20 11 2 7 16
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Merge sort part 1

• Divide the unsorted list into n sublists
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Merge sort part 2

• Now merge the pairs of sub-lists into a single
sorted list
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Worksheet 3
• Now complete Task 3, Task 4 and Task 5 on
Worksheet 3
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Comparing sorts
• The Insertion sort is much quicker than the Bubble
sort, but the Merge sort is faster still
• Be sure you can explain how each sort works
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Plenary
• Name three algorithms which can be
used to sort lists of data
• Explain briefly how each one works

• Which of these algorithms would you

generally choose? Why?
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

Plenary
• Sorting algorithms
• Bubble sort
• Insertion sort
• Merge sort

• Choice of algorithm
• Merge sort is generally faster to sort lists,
so would be the recommended algorithm
Sorting algorithms
Unit 6 Algorithms

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