Sorting algorithms

There are many algorithms that perform various operations on arrays. However, one of the most common tasks is sorting an array to arrange its elements in the correct order, either ascending or descending. The topic of sorting algorithms involves many approaches, including selection sort, insertion sort, bubble sort, and quicksort, which will be explained in detail in this part of the chapter.

Selection sort

Let's start with the selection sort, which is one of the simplest sorting algorithms. The algorithm divides the array into two parts, namely sorted and unsorted. In the following iterations, the algorithm finds the smallest element in the unsorted part and exchanges it with the first element in the unsorted part. It sounds very simple, doesn't it?

To better understand the algorithm, let's take a look at the following iterations for an array with nine elements (-11, 12, -42, 0, 1, 90, 68, 6, -9), as shown in the following diagram:

To simplify the analysis, the bold line...