Python: Sort a list of elements using Selection sort

Last update on April 23 2025 12:50:11 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

20. Selection Sort (Repeat)

Write a Python program to sort a list of elements using Selection sort.
According to Wikipedia "In computer science, selection sort is a sorting algorithm, specifically an in-place comparison sort. It has O(n2) time complexity, making it inefficient on large lists, and generally performs worse than the similar insertion sort".

Sample Solution:

Python Code:

def selection_sort(nums):
    for i, n in enumerate(nums):
        mn = min(range(i,len(nums)), key=nums.__getitem__)
        nums[i], nums[mn] = nums[mn], n
    return nums
user_input = input("Input numbers separated by a comma:\n").strip()
nums = [int(item) for item in user_input.split(',')]
print(selection_sort(nums))

Sample Output:

Input numbers separated by a comma:
 15, 79, 25, 37, 68
[15, 25, 37, 68, 79]

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

Write a Python program to implement selection sort and output the minimum element found during each pass.
Write a Python script to perform selection sort on a list and highlight the index swaps in the output.
Write a Python program to implement selection sort on a list of dictionaries by selecting the minimum value for a given key.
Write a Python function to implement selection sort and then print the partially sorted list after every iteration.

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