Sorting and Searching Algorithms MCQs 

By: Prof. Dr. Fazal Rehman Shamil | Last updated: September 20, 2024

What is the time complexity of bubble sort in the worst case?
A) O(n)
B) O(n log n)
C) O(n^2)
D) O(log n)
Answer: C) O(n^2)

Which of the following sorting algorithms is based on the divide and conquer strategy?
A) Bubble Sort
B) Selection Sort
C) Quick Sort
D) Insertion Sort
Answer: C) Quick Sort

What is the main advantage of the merge sort algorithm?
A) It is in-place
B) It is stable
C) It is faster than quick sort
D) None of the above
Answer: B) It is stable

Which searching algorithm is optimal for a sorted array?
A) Linear Search
B) Binary Search
C) Jump Search
D) Interpolation Search
Answer: B) Binary Search

What is the time complexity of insertion sort in the best case?
A) O(n)
B) O(n log n)
C) O(n^2)
D) O(log n)
Answer: A) O(n)

Which of the following is a characteristic of selection sort?
A) It is stable
B) It requires additional memory
C) It has a fixed number of comparisons
D) It works well on large datasets
Answer: C) It has a fixed number of comparisons

What is the average-case time complexity of quick sort?
A) O(n)
B) O(n log n)
C) O(n^2)
D) O(log n)
Answer: B) O(n log n)

Which of the following algorithms is the most efficient for large datasets?
A) Bubble Sort
B) Selection Sort
C) Merge Sort
D) Insertion Sort
Answer: C) Merge Sort

What is the main disadvantage of quick sort?
A) It is slow
B) It is not stable
C) It uses extra memory
D) None of the above
Answer: B) It is not stable

Which searching technique can be applied to both sorted and unsorted arrays?
A) Linear Search
B) Binary Search
C) Exponential Search
D) Interpolation Search
Answer: A) Linear Search

What is the time complexity of linear search?
A) O(n)
B) O(log n)
C) O(n log n)
D) O(1)
Answer: A) O(n)

Which of the following algorithms uses a pivot element for sorting?
A) Bubble Sort
B) Merge Sort
C) Quick Sort
D) Heap Sort
Answer: C) Quick Sort

What is the worst-case time complexity of merge sort?
A) O(n)
B) O(n log n)
C) O(n^2)
D) O(log n)
Answer: B) O(n log n)

In which sorting algorithm does each element get compared to every other element?
A) Quick Sort
B) Bubble Sort
C) Selection Sort
D) All of the above
Answer: D) All of the above

What is a key property of a stable sorting algorithm?
A) It uses less memory
B) It preserves the relative order of equal elements
C) It runs in linear time
D) None of the above
Answer: B) It preserves the relative order of equal elements

What is the primary use of interpolation search?
A) Searching in a sorted array
B) Searching in an unsorted array
C) Sorting elements
D) None of the above
Answer: A) Searching in a sorted array

Which algorithm is not a comparison-based sorting algorithm?
A) Bubble Sort
B) Heap Sort
C) Counting Sort
D) Merge Sort
Answer: C) Counting Sort

What is the space complexity of merge sort?
A) O(1)
B) O(n)
C) O(n log n)
D) O(log n)
Answer: B) O(n)

What is the best-case scenario for quick sort?
A) When the array is already sorted
B) When the pivot divides the array into two equal halves
C) When all elements are unique
D) None of the above
Answer: B) When the pivot divides the array into two equal halves

Which of the following algorithms sorts in place?
A) Merge Sort
B) Quick Sort
C) Heap Sort
D) Both B and C
Answer: D) Both B and C

What is the average-case time complexity of selection sort?
A) O(n)
B) O(n log n)
C) O(n^2)
D) O(log n)
Answer: C) O(n^2)

Which of the following is true about binary search?
A) It can be used on unsorted arrays
B) It requires the array to be sorted
C) It is always faster than linear search
D) None of the above
Answer: B) It requires the array to be sorted

What is the time complexity of heap sort?
A) O(n)
B) O(n log n)
C) O(n^2)
D) O(log n)
Answer: B) O(n log n)

In which algorithm do elements “bubble” to their correct position?
A) Quick Sort
B) Bubble Sort
C) Insertion Sort
D) Selection Sort
Answer: B) Bubble Sort

Which algorithm is typically faster for small datasets?
A) Merge Sort
B) Quick Sort
C) Insertion Sort
D) Selection Sort
Answer: C) Insertion Sort

What is the primary characteristic of the counting sort algorithm?
A) It is a comparison-based sort
B) It sorts integers within a fixed range
C) It works on linked lists
D) None of the above
Answer: B) It sorts integers within a fixed range

Which of the following is a divide and conquer algorithm?
A) Insertion Sort
B) Merge Sort
C) Bubble Sort
D) Selection Sort
Answer: B) Merge Sort

Which sorting algorithm has the lowest worst-case time complexity?
A) Quick Sort
B) Merge Sort
C) Heap Sort
D) All have the same complexity
Answer: D) All have the same complexity

What is the main advantage of the binary search algorithm?
A) It works with unsorted data
B) It is always the fastest
C) It reduces the search space by half each iteration
D) None of the above
Answer: C) It reduces the search space by half each iteration

Which of the following sorting algorithms is not stable?
A) Bubble Sort
B) Merge Sort
C) Quick Sort
D) Insertion Sort
Answer: C) Quick Sort

What is the primary disadvantage of selection sort?
A) It is not stable
B) It is inefficient for large datasets
C) It uses extra memory
D) None of the above
Answer: B) It is inefficient for large datasets

Which of the following algorithms is considered the fastest for large datasets in practice?
A) Merge Sort
B) Quick Sort
C) Heap Sort
D) Insertion Sort
Answer: B) Quick Sort

Which sorting algorithm has the best average-case time complexity?
A) Bubble Sort
B) Quick Sort
C) Merge Sort
D) Selection Sort
Answer: B) Quick Sort

What is the worst-case time complexity of binary search?
A) O(n)
B) O(log n)
C) O(n log n)
D) O(1)
Answer: B) O(log n)

Which of the following is a characteristic of the heap sort algorithm?
A) It is a stable sort
B) It uses a binary heap
C) It is recursive
D) None of the above
Answer: B) It uses a binary heap

What is the primary purpose of sorting algorithms?
A) To arrange data in a specific order
B) To search for an element
C) To compress data
D) None of the above
Answer: A) To arrange data in a specific order

Which sorting algorithm divides the array into subarrays to sort?
A) Merge Sort
B) Quick Sort
C) Both A and B
D) None of the above
Answer: C) Both A and B

What is the expected time complexity of searching for an element in a sorted array using binary search?
A) O(n)
B) O(log n)
C) O(n log n)
D) O(1)
Answer: B) O(log n)

In the context of searching algorithms, what does “divide and conquer” mean?
A) Splitting the problem into smaller subproblems
B) Combining results from subproblems
C) Both A and B
D) None of the above
Answer: C) Both A and B

 

Data Structures MCQs

Basic Concepts

1. Introduction to Data Structures
   • Abstract Data Types (ADT) MCQs
2. Complexity Analysis MCQs
   • Time complexity MCQs
   • Space complexity MCQs
   • Big O, Big Ω, Big Θ notations MCQs

Linear Data Structures MCQs

1. Arrays MCQs
   • One-dimensional arrays MCQs
   • Multi-dimensional arrays MCQs
   • Operations: traversal, insertion, deletion MCQs
2. Linked Lists MCQs
   • Singly linked list MCQs
   • Doubly linked list MCQs
   • Circular linked list MCQs
3. Stacks MCQs
   • Stack operations (push, pop, peek) MCQs
   • Applications of stacks (expression evaluation, recursion) MCQs
4. Queues MCQs
   • Queue operations (enqueue, dequeue, front, rear) MCQs
   • Types: Simple queue, circular queue, priority queue, deque MCQs

Non-Linear Data Structures MCQs

1. Trees MCQs
   • Binary trees MCQs
   • Binary Search Trees (BST) MCQs
   • AVL Trees MCQs
   • B-trees and B+ trees MCQs
   • Tree traversal methods (in-order, pre-order, post-order) MCQs
2. Heaps MCQs
   • Min-heap MCQs
   • Max-heap MCQs
   • Heap operations (insertion, deletion, heapify) MCQs
   • Applications of heaps (priority queues, heap sort) MCQs
3. Graphs MCQs
   • Graph representation (adjacency matrix, adjacency list) MCQs
   • Graph traversal algorithms (DFS, BFS) MCQs
   • Shortest path algorithms (Dijkstra’s, Bellman-Ford) MCQs
   • Minimum Spanning Tree (Kruskal’s, Prim’s) MCQs

Hashing MCQs MCQs

1. Hash Tables
   • Hash functions MCQs
   • Collision resolution techniques (chaining, open addressing) MCQs
   • Applications of hashing MCQs

Sorting and Searching Algorithms MCQs 

1. Sorting Algorithms MCQs
   • Bubble sort MCQs
   • Selection sort MCQs
   • Insertion sort MCQs
   • Merge sort MCQs
   • Quick sort MCQs
   • Heap sort MCQs
2. Searching Algorithms MCQs
   • Linear search MCQs
   • Binary search MCQs
   • Interpolation search MCQs

Miscellaneous

1. Memory Management in data structures MCQs
   • Dynamic memory allocation MCQs
   • Garbage collection MCQs
2. String Manipulation Algorithms MCQs
   • Pattern matching (KMP, Rabin-Karp) MCQs
   • String hashing MCQs

1. Data Structures MCQs 1
2. Data Structures MCQs 2
3. Data Structures MCQs 3
4. Data Structures MCQs 4
5. Data Structures MCQs 5
6. Stacks Solved MCQs
7. Queues MCQs
8. pointer mcqs
9. Array MCQs