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A student has written a pseudocode algorithm to perform an insertion sort on a 1D array names - OCR - GCSE Computer Science - Question 3 - 2023 - Paper 2
Question 3
A student has written a pseudocode algorithm to perform an insertion sort on a 1D array names. names = ["Kareem", "Sarah", "Zac", "Sundip", "Anika"] for count = 1 t... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A student has written a pseudocode algorithm to perform an insertion sort on a 1D array names - OCR - GCSE Computer Science - Question 3 - 2023 - Paper 2
Step 1
Describe the purpose of the variable temp in the insertion sort pseudocode algorithm.
Answer
The variable temp is used as a temporary storage location during the insertion sort process. When elements in the array need to be shifted to make space for the insertion of a smaller element, temp holds the value of the element currently at the position pos. This allows the algorithm to correctly swap elements without losing the original value of the one that is being moved.
Step 2
Describe one difference between an insertion sort and a bubble sort.
Answer
One key difference between insertion sort and bubble sort is their method of sorting. Insertion sort builds a sorted portion of the array one element at a time, moving elements to their correct position. Conversely, bubble sort repeatedly steps through the list, comparing adjacent elements and swapping them if they are in the wrong order, resulting in larger elements 'bubbling' to the top with each complete pass through the array.