Selection Sort Algorithm in DSA Go - Build from Scratch

Selection Sort Algorithm

📖 Scenario: You have a list of numbers that you want to arrange from smallest to largest, just like organizing books by height on a shelf.

🎯 Goal: You will build a program that sorts a list of numbers using the selection sort method, which finds the smallest number and places it at the start, then repeats for the rest.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a slice of integers with exact values

Use a variable to track the current position in the slice

Implement the selection sort logic with nested loops

Print the sorted slice at the end

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Sorting is used in many real-life tasks like organizing data, searching faster, and preparing lists for reports.

💼 Career

Understanding sorting algorithms like selection sort helps in software development, data analysis, and technical interviews.

1

Create the initial list of numbers

Create a slice called numbers with these exact integers: 64, 25, 12, 22, 11

DSA Go

# Create the slice numbers with the values 64, 25, 12, 22, 11
# Your code here

Hint

Use numbers := []int{64, 25, 12, 22, 11} to create the slice.

2

Add a variable to track the current index

Add a for loop with variable i that goes from 0 to len(numbers)-1 to track the current position in the slice

DSA Go

package main

func main() {
    numbers := []int{64, 25, 12, 22, 11}
    
    // Loop from i = 0 to len(numbers)-1
    // Your code here
}

Hint

Use a for loop with i := 0; i < len(numbers)-1; i++.

3

Implement the selection sort logic

Inside the for i loop, create a variable minIndex set to i. Then add a nested for j loop from i+1 to len(numbers). Inside the inner loop, if numbers[j] < numbers[minIndex], update minIndex = j. After the inner loop, swap numbers[i] and numbers[minIndex].

DSA Go

package main

func main() {
    numbers := []int{64, 25, 12, 22, 11}
    for i := 0; i < len(numbers)-1; i++ {
        // Add selection sort logic here
        // Your code here
    }
}

Hint

Use nested loops and swap the elements at i and minIndex.

4

Print the sorted slice

Add a fmt.Println(numbers) statement after the sorting loops to print the sorted slice. Remember to import fmt at the top.

DSA Go

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    numbers := []int{64, 25, 12, 22, 11}
    for i := 0; i < len(numbers)-1; i++ {
        minIndex := i
        for j := i + 1; j < len(numbers); j++ {
            if numbers[j] < numbers[minIndex] {
                minIndex = j
            }
        }
        numbers[i], numbers[minIndex] = numbers[minIndex], numbers[i]
    }
    // Print the sorted slice
    // Your code here
}

Hint

Use fmt.Println(numbers) to print the sorted slice.