In this activity, you will discuss ways in which a bubble sort can be improved upon with the use of an insertion sort algorithm.
PROG6112_LU1_insertion_sort
Instructions:
Open the Discussion tool.
In a new thread:
Give your post a suitable title;
Explain at the hand of an example how the bubble sort can be improved upon/ made more efficient with the use of insertion sort.
Reply to the post of at least one of your classmates (one who has not yet received a reply) indicating whether or not you agree with their examples and/or explanations. Remember to clearly motivate your opinion.
Title: Improving Bubble Sort with Insertion Sort Algorithm
In bubble sort, we repeatedly swap adjacent elements until the entire array is sorted. This algorithm has a time complexity of O(n^2). However, we can improve its efficiency by utilizing the insertion sort algorithm.
Let's consider an example to understand the improvement:
Suppose we have an array [5, 2, 4, 6, 1, 3]. The bubble sort algorithm would start by comparing the first and second elements. As 2 is smaller than 5, they would be swapped. The array now becomes [2, 5, 4, 6, 1, 3]. The process continues until the largest element '6' is moved to its correct position at the end.
Now, let's see how insertion sort can improve this process:
In the first iteration of insertion sort, we assume the first element is already sorted. So, we start from the second element '2'. We compare it with the previous element '5'. As 2 is smaller, we shift the element '5' to the right, making space for '2'. The array becomes [2, 5, 4, 6, 1, 3]. Following this process, we move '4' to its correct position between '2' and '5'. Now the array becomes [2, 4, 5, 6, 1, 3].
We keep repeating this process for each element until the entire array is sorted. In this example, the sorted array is [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
By using insertion sort partially in bubble sort, we can reduce the number of comparisons and swaps required. Moreover, insertion sort has an average-case time complexity of O(n^2), but it performs better on nearly sorted or partially sorted arrays. So, the combination of these two algorithms improves the overall efficiency of the sorting process.
I believe using insertion sort to improve bubble sort is a practical approach. It reduces the time complexity and performs well on certain types of data, such as partially sorted or nearly sorted arrays. However, it's important to note that for large and completely unsorted arrays, more efficient sorting algorithms like quicksort or mergesort should be considered.