frasette

frasette

A Common-Sense Guide to Data Structures and Algorithms, Second Edition: Are Selection Sort steps wrong? (page 71)

Hi @jaywengrow,

I think the table of Selection Sort shows wrong Max number of steps.
For example, for N = 5 we sould have:

  • Comparsions: 10 + Swaps: 2

and not:

  • Comparsions: 10 + Swaps: 4

In the following code, edit size variable to the number of element you want (5,10,20,40,80), run it to print comparsions and steps, and their sum, for a worst case scenario with a descending order array:
fiddle url: JsFiddle

function selectionSort(array) {
  let comparsions = 0;
  let swaps = 0;
  for(let i = 0; i < array.length - 1; i++) {    
    let lowestNumberIndex = i;
    for(let j = i + 1; j < array.length; j++) {
      if(array[j] < array[lowestNumberIndex]) {
        lowestNumberIndex = j;
      }
      comparsions++;
    }
 
    if(lowestNumberIndex != i) {
      swaps++;
      let temp = array[i];
      array[i] = array[lowestNumberIndex];
      array[lowestNumberIndex] = temp;
    }
  }
  let steps = "Comparsions: " + comparsions + " Swaps: " + swaps;
  console.log(steps);
  return array;
}

// code to create a sample of array size = 5,10,20,40,80
let size    = 80;
let counter = size;
let sample  = new Array(size);

for (i = 0; i < size; i++) {
   sample[i] = counter;
   counter--;
}

console.log(selectionSort(sample))

What do you think? Thanks.

Marked As Solved

jaywengrow

jaywengrow

Author of A Common-Sense Guide to Data Structures and Algorithms

Hi,

This is a really good catch! I think that for Selection Sort, the worst case scenario is still 4 swaps, but you’re right that an array in perfect descending order happens not to be the worst case scenario for Selection Sort.

An array like this: [5, 3, 1, 2, 4] - will still give you 4 swaps in Selection Sort.

I’ll have to clarify this in the next version. Thank you!

-Jay

Where Next?

Popular Pragmatic Bookshelf topics Top

ianwillie
Hello Brian, I have some problems with running the code in your book. I like the style of the book very much and I have learnt a lot as...
New
mikecargal
Title: Hands-on Rust: question about get_component (page 295) (feel free to respond. “You dug you’re own hole… good luck”) I have somet...
New
alanq
This isn’t directly about the book contents so maybe not the right forum…but in some of the code apps (e.g. turbo/06) it sends a TURBO_ST...
New
swlaschin
The book has the same “Problem space/Solution space” diagram on page 18 as is on page 17. The correct Problem/Solution space diagrams ar...
New
jgchristopher
“The ProductLive.Index template calls a helper function, live_component/3, that in turn calls on the modal component. ” Excerpt From: Br...
New
oaklandgit
Hi, I completed chapter 6 but am getting the following error when running: thread 'main' panicked at 'Failed to load texture: IoError(O...
New
adamwoolhether
Is there any place where we can discuss the solutions to some of the exercises? I can figure most of them out, but am having trouble with...
New
taguniversalmachine
Hi, I am getting an error I cannot figure out on my test. I have what I think is the exact code from the book, other than I changed “us...
New
jonmac
The allprojects block listed on page 245 produces the following error when syncing gradle: “org.gradle.api.GradleScriptException: A prob...
New
mcpierce
@mfazio23 I’ve applied the changes from Chapter 5 of the book and everything builds correctly and runs. But, when I try to start a game,...
New

Other popular topics Top

PragmaticBookshelf
Free and open source software is the default choice for the technologies that run our world, and it’s built and maintained by people like...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Learn from the award-winning programming series that inspired the Elixir language, and go on a step-by-step journey through the most impo...
New
AstonJ
Or looking forward to? :nerd_face:
498 13326 269
New
brentjanderson
Bought the Moonlander mechanical keyboard. Cherry Brown MX switches. Arms and wrists have been hurting enough that it’s time I did someth...
New
AstonJ
I’ve been hearing quite a lot of comments relating to the sound of a keyboard, with one of the most desirable of these called ‘thock’, he...
New
AstonJ
Biggest jackpot ever apparently! :upside_down_face: I don’t (usually) gamble/play the lottery, but working on a program to predict the...
New
hilfordjames
There appears to have been an update that has changed the terminology for what has previously been known as the Taskbar Overflow - this h...
New
AstonJ
This is a very quick guide, you just need to: Download LM Studio: https://lmstudio.ai/ Click on search Type DeepSeek, then select the o...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Fight complexity and reclaim the original spirit of agility by learning to simplify how you develop software. The result: a more humane a...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
A concise guide to MySQL 9 database administration, covering fundamental concepts, techniques, and best practices. Neil Smyth MySQL...
New

Sub Categories: