Heapsort & Priority Queues — Max-Heaps, Min-Heaps, and Efficient In-Place Sorting | Chapter 6 of Intro to Algorithms
Heapsort & Priority Queues — Max-Heaps, Min-Heaps, and Efficient In-Place Sorting | Chapter 6 of Intro to Algorithms Sorting and managing dynamic data efficiently are critical tasks in computer science. Chapter 6 of Introduction to Algorithms introduces the heap data structure and the heapsort algorithm, demonstrating how heaps enable optimal in-place sorting and fast priority queue operations. Whether you’re preparing for coding interviews or building real-world systems, understanding heaps is essential for designing high-performance algorithms. Prefer to learn by listening? Watch the podcast summary below, and subscribe to Last Minute Lecture for comprehensive breakdowns of every chapter in introduction to algorithms . The Heap Data Structure A heap is a nearly complete binary tree stored efficiently in an array. Each node’s children and parent can be found using index arithmetic. There are two main types: Max-heap: Each parent node is greater than or equal ...