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Sorting by hand

35 min4 exercisesPremium

Write insertion sort and merge sort yourself in Python, test them against sorted(), and see why one is O(n^2) and the other O(n log n).

The skill: Write two classic sorting algorithms, test them against sorted(), and explain why one scales and the other does not.
You make: An insertion sort, a merge for two sorted playlists and a merge sort for song lengths.

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Builds on 39 Functions that call themselves. Free to try: Python Foundations and the playground.

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exercise_1.py

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4 exercises in this lesson, checked as you type. Premium opens every lesson after Foundations, in all four courses.

Python 3.13