Sortings

Selection Sort:
1. Find the minimum value in the list
2. Swap it with the value in the first position
3. Repeat the steps above for the remainder of the list (starting at the second position and advancing each time)
Eg:
64 25 12 22 11

11 25 12 22 64

11 12 25 22 64

11 12 22 25 64

11 12 22 25 64
Bubble sort
Let us take the array of numbers "5 1 4 2 8", and sort the array from lowest number to greatest number using bubble sort algorithm. In each step, elements written in bold are being compared.
First Pass:
( 5 1 4 2 8 ) ( 1 5 4 2 8 ), Here, algorithm compares the first two elements, and swaps them.
( 1 5 4 2 8 ) ( 1 4 5 2 8 ), Swap since 5 > 4
( 1 4 5 2 8 ) ( 1 4 2 5 8 ), Swap since 5 > 2
( 1 4 2 5 8 ) ( 1 4 2 5 8 ), Now, since these elements are already in order (8 > 5), algorithm does not swap them.
Second Pass:
( 1 4 2 5 8 ) ( 1 4 2 5 8 )
( 1 4 2 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 ), Swap since 4 > 2
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
Now, the array is already sorted, but our algorithm does not know if it is completed. The algorithm needs one whole pass without any swap to know it is sorted.
Third Pass:
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
Finally, the array is sorted, and the algorithm can terminate.
Best/Worst/Average time complexity = O(n2)
Insertion Sort:
5 | 3 1 7 0 -> 3 5 | 1 7 9 -> 1 3 5 | 7 9 -> 1 3 5 7 | 9 -> 1 3 5 7 9
Merge sort:
1. If the list is of length 0 or 1, then it is already sorted. Otherwise:
2. Divide the unsorted list into two sublists of about half the size.
3. Sort each sublist recursively by re-applying merge sort.
4. Merge the two sublists back into one sorted list
Best/Worst/Average time complexity = O(n log n)
You can get a brief idea in the following link: http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071219060751AAjLx4O.