public/subjects/insertion_sort/README.md

insertion_sort

Instructions

The insertion sort algorithm:

• To sort an array of size n in ascending order:

1. Iterate from slice[1] to slice[n] over the slice.

2. Compare the current element (key) to its predecessor.

3. If the key element is smaller than its predecessor, compare it to the elements before. Move the greater elements one position up to make space for the swapped element.

Here is a visual example of sorting a slice step by step using the insertion sort algorithm.

Figure 1 - Step by step execution of the algorithm insertion sort

• Implement the algorithm insertion sort by creating a function insertion_sort(slice, steps) that executes the iterations of the algorithm the number of steps indicated by the parameter steps. See the Usage for more information.

Expected Function

pub fn insertion_sort(slice: &mut [i32], steps: usize) {
}

Usage

Here is a possible program to test your function

fn main() {
	let mut target = [5, 3, 7, 2, 1, 6, 8, 4];
	// executes the first iteration of the algorithm
	insertion_sort(&mut target, 1);
	println!("{:?}", target);

	let mut target = [5, 3, 7, 2, 1, 6, 8, 4];
	let len = target.len();
	// executes len - 1 iterations of the algorithm
	// i.e. sorts the slice
	insertion_sort(&mut target, len - 1);
	println!("{:?}", target);
}

And it's output:

student@ubuntu:~/[[ROOT]]/test$ cargo run
[3, 5, 7, 2, 1, 6, 8, 4]
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
student@ubuntu:~/[[ROOT]]/test$