Which sorting algorithm uses the Divide and Conquer strategy by dividing an array into two halves?

Options

  • A. Bubble Sort
  • B. Selection Sort
  • C. Merge Sort
  • D. More than one of the above
  • E. None of the above

Correct Answer (Detailed Explanation is Below)

C. Merge Sort

Detailed Explanation

Merge Sort follows the Divide and Conquer approach. It repeatedly divides the array into two smaller halves until individual elements remain. These smaller arrays are then merged in sorted order during the Combine phase. Merge Sort has O(N log N) time complexity in its best, average, and worst cases. It is also a stable sorting algorithm and typically requires O(N) additional auxiliary space.