The simplest possible technique based on the principle of repeated selection makes use of “n” passes over an array elements. In the i-th pass, the i-th smallest element is selected from the given array and it is placed in the i-th position of a separate output array. The already selected element is not selected next time and in order to ensure it, a unique value is put in place of the selected element in the original array.
Simple selection sort has an O(n²) time complexity which makes inefficient for large dataset and generally performs worse than insertion sort.
Time and Space Complexity
Worst complexity: O(n²)
Average complexity: O(n²)
Best complexity: O(n²)
Space complexity: O(1)
Complete Code
The complete source code for this simple selection sort is given below:
/*
* File: SimpleSelectionSort.c
* Author: https://roytuts.com
*/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
void simpleSelectionSort(int a[], int b[], int n) {
int i = 0, j, k = 0;
int temp = 999;
while (i < n) {
for (j = 0; j < n; j++) {
if (a[j] < temp) {
temp = a[j];
k = j;
}
}
a[k] = 999;
b[i] = temp;
temp = 999;
i++;
}
printf("\n");
printf("\nThe sorted array elements are given below\n");
for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
printf("a[%d]=%d ", i, b[i]);
}
}
int main() {
int i, n = 6, b[6];
int a[] = {15, 8, 17, 12, 38, 19};
printf("\n:: Simple Selection Sort ::\n");
printf("\nInput array elements\n");
for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
printf("a[%d]=%d ", i, a[i]);
}
simpleSelectionSort(a, b, n);
}
Testing the Program
The above C program will give you the following output:
:: Simple Selection Sort ::
Input array elements
a[0]=15 a[1]=8 a[2]=17 a[3]=12 a[4]=38 a[5]=19
The sorted array elements are given below
a[0]=8 a[1]=12 a[2]=15 a[3]=17 a[4]=19 a[5]=38