Chapter 5: Quadratic Sorts (The Testing Ground)

"Do not optimize prematurely. But do not be ignorant."

🏛️ The Academic View

Bubble Sort, Insertion Sort, and Selection Sort are \(O(N^2)\). They are "bad" algorithms used only for teaching.

🏗️ The Engineering Reality

Insertion Sort is the fastest algorithm in the world for \(N < 32\). That is why Timsort (Python's built-in sort) switches to Insertion Sort for small chunks.

Key Topics: * Implementing the "Big Three" for educational clarity. * Benchmarking: Finding the exact \(N\) where \(O(N^2)\) becomes unacceptable.