Given an array of size N, the task is to sort this array using a single loop.
How the array is sorted usually?
There are many ways by which the array can be sorted in ascending order, like:
In any of these methods, more than 1 loops is used.
Can the array the sorted using a single loop?
Since all the known sorting methods use more than 1 loop, it is hard to imagine to do the same with a single loop. Practically, it is not impossible to do so. But doing so won’t be the most efficient.
Example 1: Below code will sort an array with integer elements.
C++
// C++ code to sort an array of integers// with the help of single loop#include<bits/stdc++.h>using namespace std;// Function for Sorting the array// using a single loopint *sortArrays(int arr[], int length){ // Sorting using a single loop for (int j = 0; j < length - 1; j++) { // Checking the condition for two // simultaneous elements of the array if (arr[j] > arr[j + 1]) { // Swapping the elements. int temp = arr[j]; arr[j] = arr[j + 1]; arr[j + 1] = temp; // updating the value of j = -1 // so after getting updated for j++ // in the loop it becomes 0 and // the loop begins from the start. j = -1; } } return arr;}// Driver codeint main(){ // Declaring an integer array of size 11. int arr[] = { 1, 2, 99, 9, 8, 7, 6, 0, 5, 4, 3 }; // Printing the original Array. int length = sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]); string str; for (int i: arr) { str += to_string(i)+" "; } cout<<"Original array: [" << str << "]" << endl; // Sorting the array using a single loop int *arr1; arr1 = sortArrays(arr, length); // Printing the sorted array. string str1; for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) { str1 += to_string(arr1[i])+" "; } cout << "Sorted array: [" << (str1) << "]";}// This code is contributed by Rajout-Ji |
Java
// Java code to sort an array of integers// with the help of single loopimport java.util.*;class Geeks_For_Geeks { // Function for Sorting the array // using a single loop public static int[] sortArrays(int[] arr) { // Finding the length of array 'arr' int length = arr.length; // Sorting using a single loop for (int j = 0; j < length - 1; j++) { // Checking the condition for two // simultaneous elements of the array if (arr[j] > arr[j + 1]) { // Swapping the elements. int temp = arr[j]; arr[j] = arr[j + 1]; arr[j + 1] = temp; // updating the value of j = -1 // so after getting updated for j++ // in the loop it becomes 0 and // the loop begins from the start. j = -1; } } return arr; } // Declaring main method public static void main(String args[]) { // Declaring an integer array of size 11. int arr[] = { 1, 2, 99, 9, 8, 7, 6, 0, 5, 4, 3 }; // Printing the original Array. System.out.println("Original array: " + Arrays.toString(arr)); // Sorting the array using a single loop arr = sortArrays(arr); // Printing the sorted array. System.out.println("Sorted array: " + Arrays.toString(arr)); }} |
Python3
# Python3 code to sort an array of integers# with the help of single loop# Function for Sorting the array# using a single loopdef sortArrays(arr): # Finding the length of array 'arr' length = len(arr) # Sorting using a single loop j = 0 while j < length - 1: # Checking the condition for two # simultaneous elements of the array if (arr[j] > arr[j + 1]): # Swapping the elements. temp = arr[j] arr[j] = arr[j + 1] arr[j + 1] = temp # updating the value of j = -1 # so after getting updated for j++ # in the loop it becomes 0 and # the loop begins from the start. j = -1 j += 1 return arr# Driver Codeif __name__ == '__main__': # Declaring an integer array of size 11. arr = [1, 2, 99, 9, 8, 7, 6, 0, 5, 4, 3] # Printing the original Array. print("Original array: ", arr) # Sorting the array using a single loop arr = sortArrays(arr) # Printing the sorted array. print("Sorted array: ", arr)# This code is contributed by Mohit Kumar |
C#
// C# code to sort an array of integers// with the help of single loopusing System;class GFG{ // Function for Sorting the array // using a single loop public static int[] sortArrays(int[] arr) { // Finding the length of array 'arr' int length = arr.Length; // Sorting using a single loop for (int j = 0; j < length - 1; j++) { // Checking the condition for two // simultaneous elements of the array if (arr[j] > arr[j + 1]) { // Swapping the elements. int temp = arr[j]; arr[j] = arr[j + 1]; arr[j + 1] = temp; // updating the value of j = -1 // so after getting updated for j++ // in the loop it becomes 0 and // the loop begins from the start. j = -1; } } return arr; } // Driver Code public static void Main(String []args) { // Declaring an integer array of size 11. int []arr = { 1, 2, 99, 9, 8, 7, 6, 0, 5, 4, 3 }; // Printing the original Array. Console.WriteLine("Original array: " + String.Join(", ", arr)); // Sorting the array using a single loop arr = sortArrays(arr); // Printing the sorted array. Console.WriteLine("Sorted array: " + String.Join(", ", arr)); }}// This code is contributed by Rajput-Ji |
Javascript
<script>// Javascript code to sort an array of integers// with the help of single loop// Function for Sorting the array // using a single loopfunction sortArrays(arr){ // Finding the length of array 'arr' let length = arr.length; // Sorting using a single loop for (let j = 0; j < length - 1; j++) { // Checking the condition for two // simultaneous elements of the array if (arr[j] > arr[j + 1]) { // Swapping the elements. let temp = arr[j]; arr[j] = arr[j + 1]; arr[j + 1] = temp; // updating the value of j = -1 // so after getting updated for j++ // in the loop it becomes 0 and // the loop begins from the start. j = -1; } } return arr;}// Declaring main methodlet arr=[1, 2, 99, 9, 8, 7, 6, 0, 5, 4, 3];document.write("Original array: [" + (arr).join(", ")+"]<br>");// Sorting the array using a single looparr = sortArrays(arr);// Printing the sorted array.document.write("Sorted array: [" + arr.join(", ")+"]<br>");// This code is contributed by patel2127</script> |
Output:
Original array: [1, 2, 99, 9, 8, 7, 6, 0, 5, 4, 3] Sorted array: [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 99]
Example 2: Below code will sort an array of Strings.
C++
// C++ code to sort an array of Strings// with the help of single loop#include<bits/stdc++.h>using namespace std;// Function for Sorting the array using a single loopchar* sortArrays(char arr[], int length){ // Sorting using a single loop for (int j = 0; j < length - 1; j++) { // Type Conversion of char to int. int d1 = arr[j]; int d2 = arr[j + 1]; // Comparing the ascii code. if (d1 > d2) { // Swapping of the characters char temp = arr[j]; arr[j] = arr[j + 1]; arr[j + 1] = temp; j = -1; } } return arr;}// Driver codeint main(){ // Declaring a String string neveropen = "GEEKSFORGEEKS"; int n = neveropen.length(); // declaring character array char arr[n]; // copying the contents of the // string to char array for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { arr[i] = neveropen[i]; } // Printing the original Array. cout<<"Original array: ["; for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { cout << arr[i]; if(i + 1 != n) cout<<", "; } cout << "]" << endl; // Sorting the array using a single loop char *ansarr; ansarr = sortArrays(arr, n); // Printing the sorted array. cout << "Sorted array: ["; for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { cout << ansarr[i]; if(i + 1 != n) cout << ", "; } cout << "]" << endl;}// This code is contributed by Rajput-Ji |
Java
// Java code to sort an array of Strings// with the help of single loopimport java.util.*;class Geeks_For_Geeks { // Function for Sorting the array using a single loop public static char[] sortArrays(char[] arr) { // Finding the length of array 'arr' int length = arr.length; // Sorting using a single loop for (int j = 0; j < arr.length - 1; j++) { // Type Conversion of char to int. int d1 = arr[j]; int d2 = arr[j + 1]; // Comparing the ascii code. if (d1 > d2) { // Swapping of the characters char temp = arr[j]; arr[j] = arr[j + 1]; arr[j + 1] = temp; j = -1; } } return arr; } // Declaring main method public static void main(String args[]) { // Declaring a String String neveropen = "GEEKSFORGEEKS"; // Declaring a character array // to store characters of neveropen in it. char arr[] = neveropen.toCharArray(); // Printing the original Array. System.out.println("Original array: " + Arrays.toString(arr)); // Sorting the array using a single loop arr = sortArrays(arr); // Printing the sorted array. System.out.println("Sorted array: " + Arrays.toString(arr)); }} |
Python3
# Python3 code to sort an array of Strings# with the help of single loop# Function for Sorting the array using a single loopdef sortArrays(arr, length): # Sorting using a single loop j = 0 while(j < length - 1): # Type Conversion of char to int. d1 = arr[j] d2 = arr[j + 1] # Comparing the ascii code. if (d1 > d2): # Swapping of the characters temp = arr[j] arr[j] = arr[j + 1] arr[j + 1] = temp j = -1 j += 1 return arr# Driver code# Declaring a Stringneveropen = "GEEKSFORGEEKS"n = len(neveropen)# declaring character array arr=[0]*n# copying the contents of the # string to char array for i in range(n): arr[i] = neveropen[i] # Printing the original Array.print("Original array: [",end="")for i in range(n): print(arr[i],end="") if (i + 1 != n): print(", ",end="") print("]")# Sorting the array using a single loopansarr = sortArrays(arr, n)# Printing the sorted array.print("Sorted array: [",end="")for i in range(n): print(ansarr[i],end="") if (i + 1 != n): print(", ",end="") print("]")# This code is contributed by shubhamsingh10 |
C#
// C# code to sort an array of Strings// with the help of single loopusing System;class GFG { // Function for Sorting the array // using a single loop public static char[] sortArrays(char[] arr) { // Finding the length of array 'arr' int length = arr.Length; // Sorting using a single loop for (int j = 0; j < arr.Length - 1; j++) { // Type Conversion of char to int. int d1 = arr[j]; int d2 = arr[j + 1]; // Comparing the ascii code. if (d1 > d2) { // Swapping of the characters char temp = arr[j]; arr[j] = arr[j + 1]; arr[j + 1] = temp; j = -1; } } return arr; } // Declaring main method public static void Main(String []args) { // Declaring a String String neveropen = "GEEKSFORGEEKS"; // Declaring a character array // to store characters of neveropen in it. char []arr = neveropen.ToCharArray(); // Printing the original Array. Console.WriteLine("Original array: [" + String.Join(", ", arr) + "]"); // Sorting the array using a single loop arr = sortArrays(arr); // Printing the sorted array. Console.WriteLine("Sorted array: [" + String.Join(", ", arr) + "]"); }}// This code is contributed by PrinciRaj1992 |
Javascript
<script>// JavaScript code to sort an array of integers// with the help of single loop// Function for Sorting the array// using a single loopfunction sortArrays(arr){ // Finding the length of array 'arr' let length = arr.length; // Sorting using a single loop for (let j = 0; j < length - 1; j++) { // Type Conversion of char to int. let d1 = arr[j]; let d2 = arr[j + 1]; // Comparing the ascii code. if (d1 > d2) { // Swapping of the characters let temp = arr[j]; arr[j] = arr[j + 1]; arr[j + 1] = temp; j = -1; } } return arr; } // Declaring a String let neveropen = "GEEKSFORGEEKS"; // Declaring a character array // to store characters of neveropen in it. let arr = neveropen.split(""); document.write("Original array: [" + arr.join(", ")+"]<br>");// Sorting the array using a single looparr = sortArrays(arr);// Printing the sorted array.document.write("Sorted array: [" + (arr).join(", ")+"]<br>"); // This code is contributed by shivanisinghss2110</script> |
Output:
Original array: [G, E, E, K, S, F, O, R, G, E, E, K, S] Sorted array: [E, E, E, E, F, G, G, K, K, O, R, S, S]
Is sorting array in single loop better than sorting in more than one loop?
Sorting in a single loop, though it seems to be better, is not an efficient approach. Below are some points to be taken into consideration before using single loop sorting:
- Using a single loop only helps in shorter code
- The time complexity of the sorting does not change in a single loop (in comparison to more than one loop sorting)
- Single loop sorting shows that number of loops has little to do with time complexity of the algorithm.
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