Bubble Sort
Posted 2025-11-16 | *By : Cuneyt Yildirim *# Bubble Sort
Problem Statement
Given an unsorted array of n elements, write a function to sort the array
Approach
- select the first element of the array
- compare it with its next element
- if it is larger than the next element then swap them
- else do nothing
- keep doing this for every index of the array
- repeat the above process n times.
Time Complexity
O(n^2) Worst case performance
O(n) Best-case performance
O(n^2) Average performance
Space Complexity
O(1) Worst case
Founder’s Name
- The term “Bubble Sort” was first used by Iverson, K in 1962.
Example
arr[] = {10, 80, 40, 30}
Indexes: 0 1 2 3
1. Index = 0, Number = 10
2. 10 < 80, do nothing and continue
3. Index = 1, Number = 80
4. 80 > 40, swap 80 and 40
5. The array now is {10, 40, 80, 30}
6. Index = 2, Number = 80
7. 80 > 30, swap 80 and 30
8. The array now is {10, 40, 30, 80}
Repeat the Above Steps again
arr[] = {10, 40, 30, 80}
Indexes: 0 1 2 3
1. Index = 0, Number = 10
2. 10 < 40, do nothing and continue
3. Index = 1, Number = 40
4. 40 > 30, swap 40 and 30
5. The array now is {10, 30, 40, 80}
6. Index = 2, Number = 40
7. 40 < 80, do nothing
8. The array now is {10, 30, 40, 80}
Repeat the Above Steps again
arr[] = {10, 30, 40, 80}
Indexes: 0 1 2 3
1. Index = 0, Number = 10
2. 10 < 30, do nothing and continue
3. Index = 1, Number = 30
4. 30 < 40, do nothing and continue
5. Index = 2, Number = 40
6. 40 < 80, do nothing
Since there are no swaps in above steps, it means the array is sorted and we can stop here.
Code Implementation Links
Video Explanation
A video explaining the Bubble Sort Algorithm
Others
Bubble sort is also known as Sinking sort.