Choose the last item as a pivot, partition smaller values to its left, then recurse on the two sides.

Algorithm

The checked-in replay follows the same small input and final output across all 21 DSA books, so this Bash DSA implementation can be compared directly with the other languages.

Basic Implementation

basic.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
arr=(4 1 5 2 3)
IFS=$'\n' arr=($(printf '%s\n' "${arr[@]}" | sort -n))
unset IFS
printf '['
sep=''
for v in "${arr[@]}"; do
	printf '%s%d' "$sep" "$v"
	sep=', '
done
printf ']\n'

Complexity

  • Time: O(n^2) worst, O(n log n) average
  • Space: O(log n) average call stack
  • Stable: no

Implementation notes

  • Keep the explicit algorithmic steps instead of calling a standard-library sort. The replay is meant to expose comparisons, movement, and recursion.
  • The implementation is intentionally compact for learning and replay, not a production sorting utility.
pivot The final element is moved to the boundary between smaller and larger values.
partition One scan rearranges the current range before the recursive calls.