Merge Sort - Java Implementation

This section provides a tutorial on how to implement the Merge Sort algorithm in Java.

Here is my Java implementation of Merge Sort algorithm:

/* HyArrays.java
 * This class contains sorting methods similar to java.util.Arrays.sort().
 * All sorting methods should have a signature of
 * %Sort(Object[] a, int fromIndex, int toIndex)
 * where "fromIndex" is inclusive, and "toIndex" is exclusive.
 * Copyright (c) 2011 HerongYang.com. All Rights Reserved.
 */
public class HyArrays {
  public static void mergeSort(HyObject[] a, int fromIndex,
     int toIndex) {
     HyObject[] b = new HyObject[toIndex];
     for (int i=fromIndex; i<toIndex; i++) {
        b[i] = a[i];
     }
     mergeSortInternal(b, a, fromIndex, toIndex);
  }
  private static void mergeSortInternal(HyObject[] a, HyObject[] b,
     int fromIndex, int toIndex) {
     if (toIndex-fromIndex<=1) {
        return;
     } else if (toIndex-fromIndex==2) {
        if ((a[fromIndex]).compareTo(a[toIndex-1])>0) {
           b[toIndex-1] = a[fromIndex];
           b[fromIndex] = a[toIndex-1];
        }
     } else {
        int iMiddle = (toIndex-fromIndex)/2 + fromIndex;
        mergeSortInternal(b,a,fromIndex,iMiddle);
        mergeSortInternal(b,a,iMiddle,toIndex);
        int iLeft = fromIndex;
        int iRight = iMiddle;
        int i = fromIndex;
        while (iLeft<iMiddle && iRight<toIndex) {
           if ((a[iLeft]).compareTo(a[iRight])>0) {
              b[i] = a[iRight];
              iRight++;
           } else {
              b[i] = a[iLeft];
              iLeft++;
           }
           i++;
        }
        while (iLeft<iMiddle) {
           b[i] = a[iLeft];
           iLeft++;
           i++;
        }
        while (iRight<toIndex) {
           b[i] = a[iRight];
           iRight++;
           i++;
        }
     }
  }
}

Note that:

In case you are using older versions of Java that support only the raw "Comparable" interface type, here is my old implementation:

/* HyArrays.java
 * This class contains sorting methods similar to java.util.Arrays.
 * All sorting methods should have a signature of
 * %Sort(Object[] a, int fromIndex, int toIndex)
 * where "fromIndex" is inclusive, and "toIndex" is exclusive.
 * Copyright (c) 2011 HerongYang.com. All Rights Reserved.
 */
public class HyArrays {
   public static void mergeSort(Object[] a, int fromIndex,
      int toIndex) {
      Object[] b = new Object[toIndex];
      for (int i=fromIndex; i<toIndex; i++) {
         b[i] = a[i];
      }
      mergeSortInternal(b, a, fromIndex, toIndex);
   }
   private static void mergeSortInternal(Object[] a, Object[] b,
      int fromIndex, int toIndex) {
      if (toIndex-fromIndex<=1) {
         return;
      } else if (toIndex-fromIndex==2) {
         if (((Comparable)a[fromIndex]).compareTo(a[toIndex-1])>0) {
            b[toIndex-1] = a[fromIndex];
            b[fromIndex] = a[toIndex-1];
         }
      } else {
         int iMiddle = (toIndex-fromIndex)/2 + fromIndex;
         mergeSortInternal(b,a,fromIndex,iMiddle);
         mergeSortInternal(b,a,iMiddle,toIndex);
         int iLeft = fromIndex;
         int iRight = iMiddle;
         int i = fromIndex;
         while (iLeft<iMiddle && iRight<toIndex) {
            if (((Comparable)a[iLeft]).compareTo(a[iRight])>0) {
               b[i] = a[iRight];
               iRight++;
            } else {
               b[i] = a[iLeft];
               iLeft++;
            }
            i++;
         }
         while (iLeft<iMiddle) {
            b[i] = a[iLeft];
            iLeft++;
            i++;
         }
         while (iRight<toIndex) {
            b[i] = a[iRight];
            iRight++;
            i++;
         }
      }
   }
}

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction of Sorting Algorithms

 Java API for Sorting Algorithms

 Insertion Sort Algorithm and Java Implementation

 Selection Sort Algorithm and Java Implementation

 Bubble Sort Algorithm and Java Implementation

 Quicksort Algorithm and Java Implementation

Merge Sort Algorithm and Java Implementation

 Merge Sort - Algorithm Introduction

Merge Sort - Java Implementation

 Merge Sort - Performance

 Merge Sort - Implementation Improvements

 Heap Sort Algorithm and Java Implementation

 Shell Sort Algorithm and Java Implementation

 Sorting Algorithms Implementations in PHP

 Sorting Algorithms Implementations in Perl

 Sorting Algorithms Implementations in Python

 Performance Summary of All Implementations

 References

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