Inspiration from Poker Sorting: A Life Analogy and Implementation of Insertion Sort

This article introduces the insertion sort algorithm. Its core idea is to gradually build an ordered sequence: the first element is defaulted as sorted, and starting from the second element, each element (the element to be inserted) is inserted into the correct position in the previously sorted sequence (where larger elements need to be moved to make space). Taking the array `[5, 3, 8, 4, 2]` as an example, the process of comparing and moving elements from back to front is demonstrated. The key steps are: traversing the array, temporarily storing the element to be inserted, moving the sorted elements, and inserting at the correct position. Algorithm characteristics: Advantages include simplicity and intuitiveness, in-place sorting (space complexity O(1)), stability, and suitability for small-scale or nearly ordered data; disadvantages include the worst-case time complexity of O(n²) and a relatively large number of move operations. In summary, insertion sort is a foundation for understanding sorting algorithms. It is explained through a life analogy (e.g., sorting playing cards) to aid comprehension and is applicable to simple scenarios or sorting small-scale data.