One of the simplest sorting algorithms works as follows: First, find the smallest item in the array and exchange it with the first entry (itself if the first entry is already the smallest). Then, find the next smallest item and exchange it with the sec- ond entry. Continue in this way until the entire array is sorted. This method is called selection sort because it works by repeatedly selecting the smallest remaining item.
Time complexity: Selection sort uses ~N^2 / 2 compares and N exchanges to sort an array of length N.
public class Selection {
// selection sort
public static void sort(Comparable[] a) {
int N = a.length;
for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
int min = i;
for (int j = i+1; j < N; j++) {
if (less(a[j], a[min])) min = j;
}
exch(a, i, min);
assert isSorted(a, 0, i);
}
assert isSorted(a);
}
// use a custom order and Comparator interface - see Section 3.5
public static void sort(Object[] a, Comparator c) {
int N = a.length;
for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
int min = i;
for (int j = i+1; j < N; j++) {
if (less(c, a[j], a[min])) min = j;
}
exch(a, i, min);
assert isSorted(a, c, 0, i);
}
assert isSorted(a, c);
}
/***********************************************************************
* Helper sorting functions
***********************************************************************/
// is v < w ?
private static boolean less(Comparable v, Comparable w) {
return (v.compareTo(w) < 0);
}
// is v < w ?
private static boolean less(Comparator c, Object v, Object w) {
return (c.compare(v, w) < 0);
}
// exchange a[i] and a[j]
private static void exch(Object[] a, int i, int j) {
Object swap = a[i];
a[i] = a[j];
a[j] = swap;
}
/***********************************************************************
* Check if array is sorted - useful for debugging
***********************************************************************/
// is the array a[] sorted?
private static boolean isSorted(Comparable[] a) {
return isSorted(a, 0, a.length - 1);
}
// is the array sorted from a[lo] to a[hi]
private static boolean isSorted(Comparable[] a, int lo, int hi) {
for (int i = lo + 1; i <= hi; i++)
if (less(a[i], a[i-1])) return false;
return true;
}
// is the array a[] sorted?
private static boolean isSorted(Object[] a, Comparator c) {
return isSorted(a, c, 0, a.length - 1);
}
// is the array sorted from a[lo] to a[hi]
private static boolean isSorted(Object[] a, Comparator c, int lo, int hi) {
for (int i = lo + 1; i <= hi; i++)
if (less(c, a[i], a[i-1])) return false;
return true;
}
// print array to standard output
private static void show(Comparable[] a) {
for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
System.out.println(a[i]);
}
}
}