Selection Sort

Selection Sort Concept

Now that we have understood the basic intuition behind this algorithm, let's see how we can perform it in a systematic way :

We will perform N-1 iterations on the array (N is the number of elements in the array). In iteration i (1≤i≤N-1):

  • We will traverse the array from the ith index to the end and find the smallest number among these elements. Note that if there are two smallest elements of the same value, we choose the one with the lower index.
  • We will swap this smallest element with the ith element.
  • Hence at the end of the ith iteration, we have found the ith smallest number, and placed it at the ith position in the array!

In the (N-1)th iteration, we will place the (N-1)th smallest element, which is the 2nd largest element in the array, at the second last position. This will leave us with one element which would already be at its correct place.This completes our sorting! Selection Sort Algorithm