Shell Sort Program in C

Shell sort is a highly efficient sorting algorithm and is based on insertion sort algorithm. This algorithm avoids large shifts as in case of insertion sort, if the smaller value is to the far right and has to be moved to the far left.

Implementation in C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdbool.h>

#define MAX 7

int intArray[MAX] = {4,6,3,2,1,9,7};

void printline(int count) {
   int i;
	
   for(i = 0;i < count-1;i++) {
      printf("=");
   }
	
   printf("=\n");
}

void display() {
   int i;
   printf("[");
	
   // navigate through all items 
   for(i = 0;i < MAX;i++) {
      printf("%d ",intArray[i]);
   }
	
   printf("]\n");
}

void shellSort() {
   int inner, outer;
   int valueToInsert;
   int interval = 1;   
   int elements = MAX;
   int i = 0;
   
   while(interval <= elements/3) {
      interval = interval*3 +1;
   }

   while(interval > 0) {
      printf("iteration %d#:",i); 
      display();
      
      for(outer = interval; outer < elements; outer++) {
         valueToInsert = intArray[outer];
         inner = outer;
			
         while(inner > interval -1 && intArray[inner - interval] 
            >= valueToInsert) {
            intArray[inner] = intArray[inner - interval];
            inner -=interval;
            printf(" item moved :%d\n",intArray[inner]);
         }
         
         intArray[inner] = valueToInsert;
         printf(" item inserted :%d, at position :%d\n",valueToInsert,inner);
      }
		
      interval = (interval -1) /3;
      i++;
   }          
}

int main() {
   printf("Input Array: ");
   display();
   printline(50);
   shellSort();
   printf("Output Array: ");
   display();
   printline(50);
   return 1;
}

If we compile and run the above program, it will produce the following result −

Output

Input Array: [4 6 3 2 1 9 7 ]
==================================================
iteration 0#:[4 6 3 2 1 9 7 ]
 item moved :4
 item inserted :1, at position :0
 item inserted :9, at position :5
 item inserted :7, at position :6
iteration 1#:[1 6 3 2 4 9 7 ]
 item inserted :6, at position :1
 item moved :6
 item inserted :3, at position :1
 item moved :6
 item moved :3
 item inserted :2, at position :1
 item moved :6
 item inserted :4, at position :3
 item inserted :9, at position :5
 item moved :9
 item inserted :7, at position :5
Output Array: [1 2 3 4 6 7 9 ]
==================================================