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Algorithms Practice Questions for GATE CS

GATE CS Algorithms: 1 units and 5 chapters, weightage from 47 previous year questions across 10 papers, a study order by exam weight and 10 practice questions

A question from this chapter

Question 1

Level 1: Warm-up

Which of the following classic sorting algorithms performs exactly the same number of comparisons regardless of whether the input array is already sorted, reverse sorted, or randomly ordered?

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Algorithms Practice Questions for GATE CS

GATE CS Algorithms: 1 units and 5 chapters, weightage from 47 previous year questions across 10 papers, a study order by exam weight and 10 practice questions.

About Algorithms Practice Questions

10 practice questions for Algorithms in GATE CS, sorted chapter by chapter and graded from basic to exam level, each with a full solution.

GATE CS Algorithms Unit-wise Weightage from Past Papers

We counted every GATE CS Algorithms previous year question in our bank (47 questions from 10 papers) and grouped them by unit.

Unit	Chapters	PYQs	Share of section	Avg per paper
Algorithms	5	47	100%	4.7

Suggested Algorithms Study Order for GATE CS

Algorithms: 100% of past Algorithms questions, about 4.7 per paper.

Start where the marks are. Units at the top of this list have appeared most often in past GATE CS papers.

Units in GATE CS Algorithms

Algorithms Practice Questions (5 chapters)

All Algorithms chapters

One Solved Question from Each Algorithms Chapter

Question 1 · Searching, Sorting, Selection and Hashing MCQ

Which of the following classic sorting algorithms performs exactly the same number of comparisons regardless of whether the input array is already sorted, reverse sorted, or randomly ordered?

A.
Insertion Sort
B.
Bubble Sort (with early termination flag)
C.
Selection Sort
D.
Quick Sort

Correct Answer:

Step-by-Step Solution

Key idea: This is a comparative operation count question, testing knowledge of which algorithms are "adaptive" versus "non-adaptive" in their comparison behavior.

Step 1: Insertion Sort is adaptive; it makes $n - 1$ comparisons on a sorted array but $\frac{n ( n - 1 )}{2}$ on a reverse sorted array.

Step 2: Bubble Sort with an early termination flag is adaptive; it makes $n - 1$ comparisons on a sorted array.

Step 3: Quick Sort's comparison count heavily depends on pivot selection and the initial order of the array.

Step 4: Selection Sort always scans the entire unsorted portion to find the minimum element, performing exactly $\frac{n ( n - 1 )}{2}$ comparisons in all cases.

Answer: C