Merge Sort is a divide-and-conquer sorting algorithm that works by recursively dividing the unsorted list into smaller sublists, sorting those sublists, and then merging them back together to produce a single, sorted list. Here's how Merge Sort works: Divide: The unsorted list is divided into two halves by finding the middle element. This is typically done by finding the middle index of the list. If the list has an odd number of elements, the division may not be exactly equal. Conquer: Each of the two sublists is recursively sorted. This is done by applying the Merge Sort algorithm to each sublist independently. The sublists are divided further into smaller sublists until they are sorted individually. Merge: The sorted sublists are then merged back together to produce a single, sorted list. The merging process involves comparing elements from the two sublists and selecting the smaller element to place in the final sorted list. This process continues until all elements from both sublists are merged. Repeat: The process of dividing, conquering, and merging is repeated recursively until the entire list is sorted. This typically involves dividing the list into smaller and smaller sublists until each sublist contains only one element, which is already considered sorted. The key to Merge Sort's efficiency is the divide-and-conquer approach, which allows it to efficiently sort large lists and also take advantage of the fact that merging two sorted lists into one sorted list is a relatively fast operation. Merge Sort has a time complexity of O(n log n), making it a reliable and efficient sorting algorithm for various applications.
