Which term refers to a divide-and-conquer sorting method that splits into halves and merges?

Which term refers to a divide-and-conquer sorting method that splits into halves and merges?

• A. Merge Sort
• B. Recursive Algorithm
• C. Pseudocode
• D. Randomization

Answer: (A)

That exact approach is merge sort. It uses divide-and-conquer by splitting the data in half, recursively sorting each half, and then merging the two sorted halves back together. You keep dividing until you reach small pieces (typically single elements), which are already sorted, and then you combine them in a way that preserves order as you merge upward. The efficiency comes from having about log2(n) levels of divisions, and at each level you merge n elements in total, so the overall time is O(n log n). It’s also commonly stable, meaning equal elements retain their relative order after sorting, assuming the merge step is implemented to preserve stability. By contrast, a recursive algorithm is a broad idea about solving problems by breaking them down, pseudocode is just a way to describe steps, and randomization refers to using randomness in an algorithm—neither captures the specific halving-and-merging process of this sorting method.

That exact approach is merge sort. It uses divide-and-conquer by splitting the data in half, recursively sorting each half, and then merging the two sorted halves back together. You keep dividing until you reach small pieces (typically single elements), which are already sorted, and then you combine them in a way that preserves order as you merge upward. The efficiency comes from having about log2(n) levels of divisions, and at each level you merge n elements in total, so the overall time is O(n log n). It’s also commonly stable, meaning equal elements retain their relative order after sorting, assuming the merge step is implemented to preserve stability. By contrast, a recursive algorithm is a broad idea about solving problems by breaking them down, pseudocode is just a way to describe steps, and randomization refers to using randomness in an algorithm—neither captures the specific halving-and-merging process of this sorting method.