Data Structures and Algorithms
with Object-Oriented Design Patterns in C++ 
The second class of sorting algorithm that we consider comprises algorithms that sort by exchanging pairs of items until the sequence is sorted. In general, an algorithm may exchange adjacent elements as well as widely separated ones.
In fact, since the insertion sorts considered in the preceding section accomplish the insertion by swapping adjacent elements, insertion sorting can be considered as a kind of exchange sort. The reason for creating a separate category for insertion sorts is that the essence of those algorithms is insertion into a sorted list. On the other hand, an exchange sort does not necessarily make use of such a sorted list.
Copyright © 1997 by Bruno R. Preiss, P.Eng. All rights reserved.