Selection sort is one of the simplest sorting algorithms. It is similar to the hand picking where we take the smallest element and put it in the first position and the second smallest at the second position and so on. It is also similar. We first check for smallest element in the array and swap it with the first element of the array. Again, we check for the smallest number in a subarray excluding the first element of the array as it is where it should be (at the first position) and put it in the second position of the array. We continue repeating this process until the array gets sorted.
The time complexity of selection sort is (O(n2)).
We follow the following steps to perform selection sort:
- Start from the first element in the array and search for the smallest element in the array.
- Swap the first element with the smallest element of the array.
- Take a subarray (excluding the first element of the array as it is at its place) and search for the smallest number in the subarray (second smallest number of the entire array) and swap it with the first element of the array (second element of the entire array).
- Repeat the steps 2 and 3 with new subarrays until the array gets sorted.
Working of selection sort:
Initial array
First iteration
Second iteration
Third iteration
Fourth iteration
Fifth iteration
Sixth iteration
Final array
Let’s code this in C
#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>
int main()
{
int a[] = {16, 19, 11, 15, 10, 12, 14};
int i,j;
i = 0;
while (i<7)
{
//finding the smallest number in the subarray
int index_of_smallest = i;
for(j=i; j<7; j++)
{
if (a[j]<a[index_of_smallest])
index_of_smallest = j;
}
//swapping
int temp = a[i];
a[i] = a[index_of_smallest];
a[index_of_smallest] = temp;
i++;
}
for(i=0;i<7;i++)
printf("%d\n",a[i]);
return 0;
}
The code is just an implementation of the above explanation. We are finding the smallest number in the subarray after ‘i’ by using the ‘for’ loop and then swapping it with the first element of the subarray.