What Does Bubble Sort Mean?

 

In programming, multiple sorting algorithms are used to sort elements of an array or any other data structure. This is because sorting elements makes processes more efficient and easier.

Sorting things may seem easier but in reality, things are more complex than they seem to be. Therefore, multiple sorting algorithms are used depending on the complexity of the given data structure. 

But before getting into any complex methods, let’s begin with a basic sorting algorithm.

Bubble sort algorithm is one of the simplest and basic sorting algorithms which compares an element to its adjacent elements and then switches their locations if necessary.

But the question is how does this actually work? To understand that, keep reading this post. Here is everything you need to know about bubble sort in detail.

 

What Does Bubble Sort Mean?

The bubble sort algorithm is also called the sinking algorithm. The algorithm simply scans through the complete list, compares the elements to their neighbors and then switches their locations if necessary.

The same process is repeated until you receive a complete sorted list. Because the algorithm treats the uppermost elements like bubbles, the algorithm is named bubble sort.

It sorts the whole given list by just comparing all the elements and then sorting them in descending and ascending order.

Now, most of you must be wondering where this sorting algorithm is used. Let’s check out some applications of the bubble sort algorithm.

How Is Bubble Sort Used?

Let’s be honest, being one of the simplest sorting algorithms, it becomes a bit difficult to implement the bubble sort algorithm in the real world. However, it is used by a lot of programmers to understand and get hold of sorting concepts.

 Here, let’s go through the ways programmers use bubble sort.

To Learn Sorting

For beginners, learning complex sorting algorithms is not that easy. Therefore, because of the easy and simple algorithm of bubble sort, it is better for a beginner to learn bubble sort first and learn how sorting works.

To Sort Smaller Data Sets

Bubble sort may take up a lot of time when it comes to sorting larger data sets. Therefore, it is used to sort smaller data sets by programmers.

To Sort Sorted Data Sets

Sometimes, programmers may also use bubble sort to assure that the given data structure is already sorted. The data structure that they think requires no sorting or little sorting, they prefer using bubble sort.

How Does Bubble Sort Work?

Well, till now we have talked about what is bubble sort and how it is used. Now, here we are going to discuss how the algorithm works.

To understand in a better way, consider the following example:

The following array is your input:

12, 30, 24, 36, 9

First Iteration:

Now when you run the first iteration, it will first compare 12 with 30. 12 is smaller than 30 and therefore, these elements are in sorted order. So, no swapping is done here.

Next, it will compare 30 with 24. Now, 30 is greater than 24 and hence, the elements require sorting. In this case, the swapping of elements is done.

After this, 30 will be compared with 36. These elements need no sorting. So, the positions of the elements will remain the same.

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