C Exercises: Sort a given linked list by bubble sort

Last update on August 02 2025 12:54:51 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

20. Bubble Sort on Linked List

Write a C program to sort a given linked list by bubble sort.

Sample Solution:

C Code:

// License: https://bit.ly/2JK1psc

#include<stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

// Structure for a node in a linked list
struct node {
  int data;
  struct node *next;
};

int main() {
    struct node *temp1, *temp2, *t, *newNode, *startList;
    int n, k, i, j;

    startList = NULL; // Initializing the start of the linked list to NULL

    // Asking user to input the number of elements in the linked list
    printf("Input number of elements in the linked list?");
    scanf("%d", &n);

    // Asking user to input the elements in the linked list
    printf("Input the elements in the linked list:\n");
    for (i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
        if (startList == NULL) {
            // Creating a new node if the list is empty
            newNode = (struct node *)malloc(sizeof(struct node));
            scanf("%d", &newNode->data);
            newNode->next = NULL;
            startList = newNode;
            temp1 = startList;
        } else {
            // Creating a new node if the list is not empty
            newNode = (struct node *)malloc(sizeof(struct node));
            scanf("%d", &newNode->data);
            newNode->next = NULL;
            temp1->next = newNode;
            temp1 = newNode;
        }
    }

    // Sorting the elements in ascending order using bubble sort
    for (i = n - 2; i >= 0; i--) {
        temp1 = startList;
        temp2 = temp1->next;
        for (j = 0; j <= i; j++) {
            if (temp1->data > temp2->data) {
                // Swapping data if the current node has a greater value than the next node
                k = temp1->data;
                temp1->data = temp2->data;
                temp2->data = k;
            }
            temp1 = temp2;
            temp2 = temp2->next;
        }
    }

    // Displaying the sorted linked list
    printf("Sorted order is: \n");
    t = startList;
    while (t != NULL) {
        printf("%d\t", t->data);
        t = t->next;
    }

    return 0;
}

Sample Output:

 Input number of elements in the linked list? 5
 Input the elements in the linked list: 15
33
49
6
65

Sorted order is: 
6	15	33	49	65

Flowchart :

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

Write a C program to sort a linked list using bubble sort and count the number of swaps performed.
Write a C program to sort a linked list using bubble sort and then display the sorted list in both ascending and descending orders.
Write a C program to perform bubble sort on a linked list by only swapping node data rather than the pointers.
Write a C program to optimize bubble sort on a linked list by terminating early if no swaps are made during a pass.

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