Sorting and Searching Algorithms

Algorithm Design and Problem Solving · 4 question types

Exam Frequency Analysis

Past paper frequency (2018 to 2024)

This topic accounts for approximately 7% of your exam marks.

stable

Low

Stable7%

Bubble sort traces and binary search descriptions appear in nearly every paper. 4 to 6 marks.

Almost every program ends up doing one of two operations on data:

Sorting: putting a collection of values into order (alphabetical, numerical, by date, etc.).
Searching: finding a particular value within a collection.

The IGCSE syllabus names three standard algorithms for these jobs:

You should be able to describe how each one works, trace through a worked example, and compare the two search algorithms.