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Selection Sort

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"""
This is a pure Python implementation of the selection sort algorithm

For doctests run following command:
python -m doctest -v selection_sort.py
or
python3 -m doctest -v selection_sort.py

For manual testing run:
python selection_sort.py
"""


def selection_sort(collection):
    """Pure implementation of the selection sort algorithm in Python
    :param collection: some mutable ordered collection with heterogeneous
    comparable items inside
    :return: the same collection ordered by ascending


    Examples:
    >>> selection_sort([0, 5, 3, 2, 2])
    [0, 2, 2, 3, 5]

    >>> selection_sort([])
    []

    >>> selection_sort([-2, -5, -45])
    [-45, -5, -2]
    """

    length = len(collection)
    for i in range(length - 1):
        least = i
        for k in range(i + 1, length):
            if collection[k] < collection[least]:
                least = k
        if least != i:
            collection[least], collection[i] = (collection[i], collection[least])
    return collection


if __name__ == "__main__":
    user_input = input("Enter numbers separated by a comma:\n").strip()
    unsorted = [int(item) for item in user_input.split(",")]
    print(selection_sort(unsorted))
About this Algorithm

Problem Statement

Given an unsorted array of n elements, write a function to sort the array

Approach

  • select the smallest element from the array
  • put it at the beginning of the array
  • then select the smallest array from the remaining unsorted list
  • append it to the sorted array at the beginning
  • keep doing this for every element of the array
  • repeat the above process n times

Time Complexity

O(n^2) Worst case performance

O(n^2) Best-case performance

O(n^2) Average performance

Space Complexity

O(1) Worst case

Example

arr[] = {80, 10, 40, 30}
Indexes: 0   1   2   3    

1. Index = 0
	Select the minimum number from the array (between index 0-3), ie, 10
2. Swap 10  and 80 (arr[0])
3. The array now is {10, 80, 40, 30}

4. Index = 1
	Select the minimum number from the array (between index 1-3), ie, 30
5. Swap 30 and 80 (arr[1])
6. The array now is {10, 30, 40, 80}

7. Index = 2
	Select the minimum number from the array (between index 2-3), ie, 40
8. Swap 40 and 40 (arr[2])
9. The array now is {10, 30, 40, 80}

The array is now sorted.

Code Implementation Links

Video Explanation

A video explaining the Selection Sort Algorithm

Animation Explanation