Insertion sort

Insertion sort is a simple sorting algorithm that builds the final sorted array (or list) one item at a time by comparisons. It is much less efficient on large lists than more advanced algorithms such as quicksort, heapsort, or merge sort. However, insertion sort provides several advantages:

• Simple implementation: Jon Bentley shows a three-line C/C++ version that is five lines when optimized.[1]
• Efficient for (quite) small data sets, much like other quadratic (i.e., O(n²)) sorting algorithms
• More efficient in practice than most other simple quadratic algorithms such as selection sort or bubble sort
• Adaptive, i.e., efficient for data sets that are already substantially sorted: the time complexity is O(kn) when each element in the input is no more than k places away from its sorted position
• Stable; i.e., does not change the relative order of elements with equal keys
• In-place; i.e., only requires a constant amount O(1) of additional memory space
• Online; i.e., can sort a list as it receives it

Quick facts: Class, Data structure, Worst-case performance... ▼

Insertion sort

Animation of insertion sort
Class	Sorting algorithm
Data structure	Array
Worst-case performance	${\displaystyle O(n^{2})}$ comparisons and swaps
Best-case performance	${\displaystyle O(n)}$ comparisons, ${\displaystyle O(1)}$ swaps
Average performance	${\displaystyle O(n^{2})}$ comparisons and swaps
Worst-case space complexity	${\displaystyle O(n)}$ total, ${\displaystyle O(1)}$ auxiliary

When people manually sort cards in a bridge hand, most use a method that is similar to insertion sort.[2]