Merge sort

Merge sort is a sorting technique based on divide and conquer technique.

• With worst-case time complexity being Ο(n log n), it is one of the most respected algorithms.

Merge sort first divides the array into equal halves and then combines them in a sorted manner.

Algorithm:-

Merge sort keeps on dividing the list into equal halves until it can no more be divided. By definition, if it is only one element in the list, it is sorted. Then, merge sort combines the smaller sorted lists keeping the new list sorted too.

Merge sort is implemented in c language

#include <stdio.h>

#define max 10

int a[11] = { 10, 14, 19, 26, 27, 31, 33, 35, 42, 44, 0 };
int b[10];

void merging(int low, int mid, int high) {
   int l1, l2, i;

   for(l1 = low, l2 = mid + 1, i = low; l1 <= mid && l2 <= high; i++) {
      if(a[l1] <= a[l2])
         b[i] = a[l1++];
      else
         b[i] = a[l2++];
   }
   
   while(l1 <= mid)    
      b[i++] = a[l1++];

   while(l2 <= high)   
      b[i++] = a[l2++];

   for(i = low; i <= high; i++)
      a[i] = b[i];
}

void sort(int low, int high) {
   int mid;
   
   if(low < high) {
      mid = (low + high) / 2;
      sort(low, mid);
      sort(mid+1, high);
      merging(low, mid, high);
   } else { 
      return;
   }   
}

int main() { 
   int i;

   printf("List before sorting\n");
   
   for(i = 0; i <= max; i++)
      printf("%d ", a[i]);

   sort(0, max);

   printf("\nList after sorting\n");
   
   for(i = 0; i <= max; i++)
      printf("%d ", a[i]);
}

List before sorting
10 14 19 26 27 31 33 35 42 44 0
List after sorting
0 10 14 19 26 27 31 33 35 42 44