Merge Sort Algorithm: A Comprehensive Guide for Sorting Large Data Sets
Understand the Basics of Merge Sort with Programming Demonstration | Karthikeyan Nagaraj
5 min readFeb 16, 2023
Introduction:
- Merge sort is a divide-and-conquer algorithm that was invented in 1945 by John von Neumann.
- It is one of the most efficient sorting algorithms, with a time complexity of O(n log n) in the worst case. In this article, we will discuss the concept and implementation of merge sort.
Concept:
- It is a divide-and-conquer algorithm, which means that it breaks down the problem into smaller sub-problems and then solves them to get the final solution.
- Merge sort divides an array into two halves, recursively sorts each half, and then merges the sorted halves.
- The process continues until the entire array is sorted. Merge sort is a stable sorting algorithm, which means that the order of equal elements is preserved.
Merge Sort in Data Structures:
In data structures, merge sort is used in several applications, including:
- Sorting Algorithms:
Merge sort is a popular sorting algorithm used in data structures. It is efficient…