Can quicksort be implemented iteratively?

Can quicksort be implemented iteratively?

Yes, quicksort can be implemented iteratively using a stack to manage the subarrays.

How does the iterative version differ from the recursive one?

The iterative version avoids the function call overhead and uses an explicit stack to keep track of subarray indices.

Can you provide a code example of the iterative quicksort?

Sure! Here's a simple implementation in Python:

def iterative_quick_sort(arr):
    stack = [(0, len(arr) - 1)]
    while stack:
        start, end = stack.pop()
        if start < end:
            pivot_index = partition(arr, start, end)
            stack.append((start, pivot_index - 1))
            stack.append((pivot_index + 1, end))

def partition(arr, start, end):
    pivot = arr[end]
    i = start - 1
    for j in range(start, end):
        if arr[j] <= pivot:
            i += 1
            arr[i], arr[j] = arr[j], arr[i]
    arr[i + 1], arr[end] = arr[end], arr[i + 1]
    return i + 1

What are the advantages of using iterative quicksort?

The main advantages are reduced memory usage and avoiding stack overflow issues that can occur with deep recursion.