{"id":100,"date":"2024-12-26T14:35:09","date_gmt":"2024-12-26T19:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kushaltimsina.com\/blog\/?p=100"},"modified":"2025-02-08T10:57:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T15:57:01","slug":"merge-sort-explained-with-visuals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kushaltimsina.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/26\/merge-sort-explained-with-visuals\/","title":{"rendered":"Merge Sort – Explained with Visuals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is Merge Sort in One Sentence?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Merge Sort is a computer science sorting algorithm<\/a>, which essentially means that it takes a bunch of numbers and puts them in order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is an Example of Merge Sort?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We’ll start with a worked example to illustrate what merge sort is all about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say that I have 4 numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My numbers are (1, 41, 5, 0)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Merge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I want to sort these numbers out, so that they’re in increasing order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Merge Sort, I take my numbers and I give half of them to my friends, Bob and John.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So now, Bob has (1, 41) and John has (5, 0).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Merge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And now, Bob asks himself: “Is 1 less than 41?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, 1 comes before 41.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, Bob’s numbers have been sorted: (1, 41).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"From<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now, it’s John’s turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does 5 come before 0? No! 0 comes before 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, John re-orders his numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Merge Sort – Returning Numbers Back<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And now, they both give their numbers back to Kushal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Merge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And now, Kushal has to “merge” the (1, 41) and (0, 5) into a new sorted list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, he points to the first item in both lists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between the 1 and 0, what comes first? The 0 comes first. So, we add it to the list of sorted numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"We<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And now, we increment the arrow pointing to the 0. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So now, the right arrow points to 5. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Merge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And we repeat. Between 1 and 5, 1 comes first. Add 1 to the sorted list and increment the arrow that points to 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Merge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now, between 41 and 5, 5 comes first. Add 5 to the list and increment the arrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Merge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At this point, length of our sorted numbers is one less than the length of our unsorted numbers. This means that we have 1 more number to sort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that is our last number, 41.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Merge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There you have it! Merge sort, clearly explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re a new computer science student, or are thinking about getting into computer science, check out my advice for new computer science students.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading! If this helped you, make sure to subscribe to Kushal Writes for more awesome computer science concepts to level up your programming skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is Merge Sort in One Sentence? Merge Sort is a computer science sorting algorithm, which essentially means that it takes a bunch of numbers and puts them in order. What is an Example of Merge Sort? We’ll start with a worked example to illustrate what merge sort is all about. Let\u2019s say that I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[11,10,12],"class_list":["post-100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computer-science","tag-algorithms","tag-computer-science","tag-sorting-algorithms"],"yoast_head":"\nMerge Sort - Explained with Visuals - Kushal Writes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this article, I explain merge sort, a computer science sorting algorithm, in a visually pleasing way. 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