In the programming world, there are multiple solutions to a single problem and sorting is no exception. If you are not aware of what sorting is, it is a procedure of arranging the elements of a data structure in a certain order.
For example, we know that 1 comes before 2 or 2 comes before 3, thanks to the numerical systems. In such a way, the elements of a data structure also need to be sorted. In programming, sorting can be done in different ways. However, you need to choose the one which is suitable as per the data structure and the number of elements.
These sorting algorithms include bubble sort algorithm, quick sort, merge sort, insertion sort, and selection sort. For a lot of people, it can be confusing which algorithm to employ on the given data, and hence, understanding the use case of each is important. Here, we have come up with a detailed comparison between the merge sort and bubble sort for you.
What Is Bubble Sort?
It is the easiest and simplest method of sorting. This works in a similar way to a bubble trying to get to the surface. In this method, with every iteration, the highest value among the array is found and it is then placed at the end of the list or wherever the element belongs according to other elements in the data set. Bubble sort focuses on sorting the elements closer to the left as after each iteration, it transfers the highest element on the right side and the lowest element to the left.
Other than this, the worst case of bubble sort is when the elements are arranged in reverse order. It will take more iterations to sort the elements. However, it is still better as the algorithm will decide in the initial iteration only that the data set is already sorted.
What Is Merge Sort?
This sorting algorithm may not be the easiest one but it is definitely the fastest one. In this sorting algorithm, the larger data set is divided into smaller ones. After that, these smaller data sets are sorted. When these small data sets are sorted, they are merged together to form the larger and sorted data set.
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