compare_methods()

Compare sorting methods on the given data.

Usage

compare_methods(data)

Runs multiple sorting algorithms on the input data and returns a dictionary with timing and memory metrics for each method.

Parameters

data: list

A list of comparable elements to sort.

Returns

dict

A dictionary mapping method names to their performance metrics.

Notes

The following table summarizes the complexity characteristics of the sorting methods compared:

======== ========= =========== Method Speed Memory ======== ========= =========== Quick O(n log n) O(log n) Merge O(n log n) O(n) Bubble O(n^2) O(1) ======== ========= ===========

The speed column shows average-case time complexity. Memory shows auxiliary space complexity, excluding the input array.

For small datasets (n < 50), the differences between these methods are negligible due to constant factors.

Examples

>>> result = compare_methods([5, 3, 1])
>>> sorted(result.keys())

[‘bubble’, ‘merge’, ‘quick’]