Bubble Sort Algorithm

Sorting algorithms are important as they help the programmer to arrange or re-arrange elements depending on their desired format. There are a number of sorting algorithms, among them are:

1. Bubble sort.
2. Selection sort.
3. Insertion sort.
4. Merge sort.
5. Quick sort.
6. Heap sort

In this article, we are going to discuss the bubble sort algorithm. First, let's define and understand how a bubble sort algorithm works. Bubble sort algorithm just like other sorting algorithms, it's mainly concerned with organizing or re-organizing elements. Bubble sort does this by using the ideology of comparison. This would mean that its a step by step approach- for instance, to organize an array with elements "a", "b", and "c", the algorithm would compare element "a" to element "b" and depending on the programmer's desired or defined format, a swap might happen.
Below are examples of code scripts for python, javascript, and C showing how to produce the algorithm.

Bubble sort-algorithm using Python.

def bubble_sort(arr):
    n = len(arr)
    # Traverse through all array elements
    for i in range(n):
        # Track if any elements were swapped in this iteration
        swapped = False
        # Last i elements are already in place, so inner loop can avoid checking them
        for j in range(0, n-i-1):
            # Traverse the array from 0 to n-i-1
            # Swap if the element found is greater than the next element
            if arr[j] > arr[j+1]:
                arr[j], arr[j+1] = arr[j+1], arr[j]
                swapped = True
        # If no elements were swapped in the inner loop, then the array is already sorted
        if not swapped:
            break

Bubble sort-algorithm using JavaScript.

function bubbleSort(arr) {
    let n = arr.length;
    let swapped;

    // Outer loop to iterate over the entire array
    for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
        swapped = false;

        // Inner loop to compare adjacent elements
        for (let j = 0; j < n - i - 1; j++) {
            // Swap if the element found is greater than the next element
            if (arr[j] > arr[j + 1]) {
                let temp = arr[j];
                arr[j] = arr[j + 1];
                arr[j + 1] = temp;
                swapped = true;
            }
        }

        // If no elements were swapped, break out of the loop
        if (!swapped) {
            break;
        }
    }
}

Bubble sort-algorithm using C.

#include <stdio.h>

// Function to implement bubble sort
void bubbleSort(int arr[], int n) {
    int i, j, temp;
    int swapped;

    // Outer loop to iterate over the entire array
    for (i = 0; i < n-1; i++) {
        swapped = 0;

        // Inner loop to compare adjacent elements
        for (j = 0; j < n-i-1; j++) {
            // Swap if the element found is greater than the next element
            if (arr[j] > arr[j+1]) {
                temp = arr[j];
                arr[j] = arr[j+1];
                arr[j+1] = temp;
                swapped = 1;
            }
        }

        // If no elements were swapped, break out of the loop
        if (swapped == 0)
            break;
    }
}

// Function to print an array
void printArray(int arr[], int size) {
    int i;
    for (i = 0; i < size; i++) {
        printf("%d ", arr[i]);
    }
    printf("\n");
}

// Main function to test the bubble sort algorithm
int main() {
    int arr[] = {64, 34, 25, 12, 22, 11, 90};
    int n = sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]);

    printf("Unsorted array: \n");
    printArray(arr, n);

    bubbleSort(arr, n);

    printf("Sorted array: \n");
    printArray(arr, n);

    return 0;
}

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