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Lesson 12 · Python

Algorithms: Searching & Sorting

Implement linear and binary search, trace them by hand, sort with insertion sort for learning and with Python's built-in Timsort for real work.

45 minintermediateData Structures & Algorithms

Prerequisites: Algorithms: Complexity & Big-O

Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Implement linear and binary search and choose between them honestly
  • Trace binary search by hand, including its sorted precondition and loop invariant
  • Implement insertion sort and state its best and worst cases
  • Explain what makes a sort stable and why it matters
  • Sort real data professionally with sorted() and list.sort(key=...)