In previous exercises you have examined the
efficiency of searches and sorts by looking at measures such as swaps and
comparisons required in the algorithms. In Chapter 17, Big-O is described as a
way to measure complexity of algorithms. In this lab assignment, you will
reexamine some of the sorts you know and two you do not know using Big-O
notation.
Go to each of the pages listed below and
follow the directions.
Merge sort seems to come out on top in all of
the experiments. If this is true, why would we ever use another sort? Can you
think of another measure that we are not taking into account that might make
merge sort less attractive?
After examining the various sorting
algorithms with random data and ordered data, which sorts would be appropriate
under each of the following circumstances?