Bubble Sort: C Program

 Bubble sort, sometimes referred to as sinking sort, is a simple sorting algorithm that works by repeatedly stepping through the list to be sorted, comparing each pair of adjacent items and swapping them if they are in the wrong order. The pass through the list is repeated until no swaps are needed, which indicates that the list is sorted. The algorithm gets its name from the way smaller elements “bubble” to the top of the list. Because it only uses comparisons to operate on elements, it is a comparison sort. Although the algorithm is simple, it is typically too slow for practical use, even compared to insertion sort.

Step-by-step example

Let us take the array of numbers “5 1 4 2 8”, and sort the array from lowest number to greatest number using bubble sort. In each step, elements written in bold are being compared. Three passes will be required.

First Pass:
( 5 1 4 2 8 ) ( 1 5 4 2 8 ), Here, algorithm compares the first two elements, and swaps since 5 > 1.
( 1 5 4 2 8 ) ( 1 4 5 2 8 ), Swap since 5 > 4
( 1 4 5 2 8 ) ( 1 4 2 5 8 ), Swap since 5 > 2
( 1 4 2 5 8 ) ( 1 4 2 5 8 ), Now, since these elements are already in order (8 > 5), algorithm does not swap them.
Second Pass:
( 1 4 2 5 8 ) ( 1 4 2 5 8 )
( 1 4 2 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 ), Swap since 4 > 2
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
Now, the array is already sorted, but our algorithm does not know if it is completed. The algorithm needs one whole pass without any swap to know it is sorted.
Third Pass:
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )

[nextpage title="Program" ]
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#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
 
void main()
{
  int array[100], n, c, d, swap;
  clrscr(); 

  printf("Enter number of elements\n");
  scanf("%d", &n);
 
  printf("Enter %d integers\n", n);
 
  for (c = 0; c < n; c++)
    scanf("%d", &array[c]);
 
  for (c = 0 ; c < ( n - 1 ); c++)
  {
    for (d = 0 ; d < n - c - 1; d++)
    {
      if (array[d] > array[d+1]) /* For decreasing order use < */
      {
        swap       = array[d];
        array[d]   = array[d+1];
        array[d+1] = swap;
      }
    }
  }
 
  printf("Sorted list in ascending order:\n");
 
  for ( c = 0 ; c < n ; c++ )
     printf("%d\n", array[c]);
 
 getch();
}
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[nextpage title="Output" ]
[message_box title="Output" color="green"]
Enter number of elements
6

Enter 6 integers
5
9
22
11
8
15

Sorted list in ascending order:
5
8
9
11
15
22

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