19. Mergesort - Part A
The chapter introduces merge sort as an efficient sorting algorithm that utilizes a divide-and-conquer approach to sort lists by recursively halving them until they contain small, manageable sublists. It explains how merging sorted sublists back together preserves order and details the underlying algorithmic structure, focusing on both the merging process and implementation in Python. This systematic breakdown of sorting larger arrays demonstrates the advantages of using a recursive strategy to enhance algorithm efficiency.
Sections
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What we have learnt
- Merge sort is an efficient sorting algorithm that uses a divide-and-conquer strategy.
- The merging process involves combining two sorted lists into a single sorted list.
- Divide-and-conquer strategies are effective for problems that can be broken down into independent subproblems.
Key Concepts
- -- Merge Sort
- A sorting algorithm that divides the list into two parts, recursively sorts them, and merges the sorted halves back together.
- -- Divide and Conquer
- An algorithm design paradigm that breaks a problem into smaller subproblems, solves them independently, and combines the results efficiently.
- -- Merging
- The process of combining two sorted lists into a single sorted list by repeatedly comparing and selecting the smallest elements.
Additional Learning Materials
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