PHP Searching and Sorting Algorithm: Merge sort

Last update on May 30 2022 11:42:38 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

PHP Searching and Sorting Algorithm: Exercise-17 with Solution

Write a PHP program to sort a list of elements using Merge sort.

According to Wikipedia "Merge sort (also commonly spelled mergesort) is an O (n log n) comparison-based sorting algorithm. Most implementations produce a stable sort, which means that the implementation preserves the input order of equal elements in the sorted output."

Pictorial presentation - Merge search algorithm :

PHP : merge sort

Sample Solution :

PHP Code :

<?php
function merge_sort($my_array){
	if(count($my_array) == 1 ) return $my_array;
	$mid = count($my_array) / 2;
    $left = array_slice($my_array, 0, $mid);
    $right = array_slice($my_array, $mid);
	$left = merge_sort($left);
	$right = merge_sort($right);
	return merge($left, $right);
}
function merge($left, $right){
	$res = array();
	while (count($left) > 0 && count($right) > 0){
		if($left[0] > $right[0]){
			$res[] = $right[0];
			$right = array_slice($right , 1);
		}else{
			$res[] = $left[0];
			$left = array_slice($left, 1);
		}
	}
	while (count($left) > 0){
		$res[] = $left[0];
		$left = array_slice($left, 1);
	}
	while (count($right) > 0){
		$res[] = $right[0];
		$right = array_slice($right, 1);
	}
	return $res;
}
$test_array = array(100, 54, 7, 2, 5, 4, 1);
echo "Original Array : ";
echo implode(', ',$test_array );
echo "\nSorted Array :";
echo implode(', ',merge_sort($test_array))."\n";
?>

Sample Output:

Original Array : 100, 54, 7, 2, 5, 4, 1                             
Sorted Array : 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 54, 100

Flowchart :

PHP Code Editor:

Have another way to solve this solution? Contribute your code (and comments) through Disqus.

Previous: Write a PHP program to sort a list of elements using Patience sort.
Next: PHP Challenges Exercises Home.

What is the difficulty level of this exercise?

Test your Programming skills with w3resource's quiz.

PHP: Tips of the Day

How to Sort Multi-dimensional Array by Value?

Try a usort, If you are still on PHP 5.2 or earlier, you'll have to define a sorting function first:

Example:

function sortByOrder($a, $b) {
    return $a['order'] - $b['order'];
}

usort($myArray, 'sortByOrder');

Starting in PHP 5.3, you can use an anonymous function:

usort($myArray, function($a, $b) {
    return $a['order'] - $b['order'];
});

And finally with PHP 7 you can use the spaceship operator:

usort($myArray, function($a, $b) {
    return $a['order'] <=> $b['order'];
});

To extend this to multi-dimensional sorting, reference the second/third sorting elements if the first is zero - best explained below. You can also use this for sorting on sub-elements.

usort($myArray, function($a, $b) {
    $retval = $a['order'] <=> $b['order'];
    if ($retval == 0) {
        $retval = $a['suborder'] <=> $b['suborder'];
        if ($retval == 0) {
            $retval = $a['details']['subsuborder'] <=> $b['details']['subsuborder'];
        }
    }
    return $retval;
});

If you need to retain key associations, use uasort() - see comparison of array sorting functions in the manual

Ref : https://bit.ly/3i77vCC