Data Sorting

In everyday life, people use algorithms to accomplish tasks, and this is no different when it comes to computing. Algorithms are just a sequence of steps that are followed to accomplish an assignment (Lysecky et al., 2015).  One of the most important things that are done when it comes to computing is storing data as well as sorting this data and then being able to retrieve that data. There are various ways of sorting through data if that is necessary. There are also various ways to retrieve the data that is stored by using different algorithms. Depending on the amount of data and the type of data that is being sorted there are different methods that are better than others. When sorting the data, one must decide if the data is going to be sorted in ascending order or descending order and there are algorithms that programmers use most often when writing programmers. One of the first sorting algorithms is the linear search algorithm which searches elements in an array one by one in a linear way. Although this is not the best-case scenario for vast amounts of data, it is one of the simplest. Algorithms can get complex but do serve a purpose like a merge sort which takes data and splits it to sort each side and then merges them. Finding the best algorithm depends on why it is being used but the most important factor in the efficiency of the algorithm is depending on the size of the input. There is a heap of information out there for new programmers and there are many ways to achieve the same outcome but a lot depends on what one has available to work with.

 

Lysecky, R., Vahid, F., Lysecky, S., & Givargis, T. (2015). Data structures essentials. Retrieved from https://zybooks.zyante.com/#/zybook/DataStructuresEssentialsR25/chapter/1/section/3