Bucket Sort vs Quick Sort
Same 220 values, same shuffle, same speed. Bucket Sort finishes first and turns gold: 2,529 operations to 2,856.
The numbers
- Bucket operations
- 2,529
- Quick operations
- 2,856
- Bucket average
- n + k
- Quick average
- n log n
- Bucket worst
- n²
- Quick worst
- n²
Bucket Sort
Bucket Sort spreads values into buckets by range, sorts each bucket, then joins them. More on Bucket Sort.
Quick Sort
Quick Sort picks a pivot, splits the list into smaller and larger halves, and sorts each half the same way. More on Quick Sort.
FAQ
Which is faster, Bucket Sort or Quick Sort?
On this shuffle of 220 values, Bucket Sort needed 2,529 operations and Quick Sort needed 2,856, about 1.1× as many. On average Bucket Sort is n + k and Quick Sort is n log n.
Which one is stable?
Bucket Sort is stable; Quick Sort is not.
How is the race fair?
Both algorithms start from the same shuffle and run the same number of operations per frame. Every comparison, swap and write counts as one operation, so the one that needs fewer operations finishes first.