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Merge Sort is a divide-and-conquer sorting algorithm that recursively splits an array into smaller subarrays, sorts them, and then merges them back together in sorted order. It is known for its efficiency and stability, making it a popular choice for sorting large datasets.
How Merge Sort Works
Divide: The array is recursively divided into two halves until each subarray contains only one element.
Conquer: Each subarray is considered sorted since it contains a single element.
Merge: The sorted subarrays are merged back together in sorted order to form the final sorted array.
Example
To sort [38, 27, 43, 10]:
Divide: [38, 27, 43, 10] → [38, 27] and [43, 10] → [38], [27], [43], [10].
Conquer: [38], [27], [43], [10] are already sorted.
Merge: [38] and [27] → [27, 38], [43] and [10] → [10, 43], then [27, 38] and [10, 43] → [10, 27, 38, 43].
Python Implementation
Here is a Python implementation of Merge Sort:
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