Java Data Structures - Selection Sort

Selection sort is a simple sorting algorithm. This sorting algorithm is an in-place comparison-based algorithm in which the list is divided into two parts, the sorted part at the left end and the unsorted part at the right end. Initially, the sorted part is empty and the unsorted part is the entire list.

The smallest element is selected from the unsorted array and swapped with the leftmost element, and that element becomes a part of the sorted array. This process continues moving unsorted array boundary by one element to the right.

This algorithm is not suitable for large data sets as its average and worst case complexities are of Ο(n2), where n is the number of items.

Algorithm

Step 1: Set MIN to location 0 in the array.
Step 2: Search the minimum element in the list.
Step 3: Swap with value at location MIN.
Step 4: Increment MIN to point to next element.
Step 5: Repeat until list is sorted.

Example

import java.util.Arrays;

public class SelectionSort {
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      int myArray[] =  {10, 20, 25, 63, 96, 57};
      int n = myArray.length;     
      
      System.out.println("Contents of the array before sorting : ");
      System.out.println(Arrays.toString(myArray));

      for (int i=0 ;i< n-1; i++) {
         int min = i;    
         for (int j = i+1; j<n; j++) {
            if (myArray[j] < myArray[min]) { 
               min = j;
            }	     
         }
         int temp = myArray[min];
         myArray[min] = myArray[i];
         myArray[i] = temp; 	   
      }
      System.out.println("Contents of the array after sorting : ");
      System.out.println(Arrays.toString(myArray));      
   }
}

Output

Contents of the array before sorting : 
[10, 20, 25, 63, 96, 57]
Contents of the array after sorting : 
[10, 20, 25, 57, 63, 96]