Cocktail Sort in JavaScript

Algorithms: Sorting November 15, 2026 javascript

Cocktail sort is a comparison-sort variant useful for understanding alternative ways to move misplaced values..

javascript
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"use strict";
// Cocktail Sort in JavaScript
//
// PURPOSE
// Cocktail sort is a comparison-sort variant useful for understanding alternative ways to
// move misplaced values.
//
// METHOD
// Alternate forward and backward adjacent-swap passes, shrinking both ends and stopping when
// no swaps occur.
//
// COMPLEXITY
// O(n squared) worst-case time and O(1) auxiliary space. Stable.
//
// CONTRACT
// Sorts ascending in place and returns 0. Intended for small collections; use a general-
// purpose O(n log n) sort for large workloads.
// Public APIs infer array lengths except in C, which accepts pointer/length pairs. Vertex
// counts and matrix dimensions remain explicit. Arrays must contain signed 32-bit integers.
// Sorted order, correct tree topology, and caller-owned data-structure invariants are
// preconditions; checking them on every query would change query complexity.
// Scalar and shape checks are included. Value-range checks are included where needed to
// prevent invalid indexing or nontermination. Allocation sizes are capped at 4,000,000
// workspace entries. Arithmetic outside Python raises an error on 32-bit overflow; Python
// uses arbitrary precision. Native allocation failures propagate. In-place outputs may be
// partly updated after arithmetic failure. These are single-threaded, in-memory
// implementations.
//
// LANGUAGE DETAILS
// Node.js 18+: Int32Array inputs and workspaces provide compact integer storage. Automatic
// lengths and checked arithmetic reject values outside signed 32-bit. Invalid inputs or
// overflow throw RangeError.
//
// EXAMPLE
// Expected return: 0.
// Expected a after call: [1, 1, 3, 4].
// Run: node example.js
// Tests for this exact source artifact run before publication. The accompanying source
// archive includes unit cases, runtime results, and source hashes.

function alg_require(valid) { if (!valid) throw new RangeError("invalid algorithm input"); }
function alg_checked(v) { if (!Number.isInteger(v) || v < -2147483648 || v > 2147483647) throw new RangeError("32-bit result overflow"); return v; }
function alg_add(a,b) { return alg_checked(a+b); }
function alg_sub(a,b) { return alg_checked(a-b); }
function alg_mul(a,b) { return alg_checked(a*b); }
function alg_size(n) { alg_require(Number.isInteger(n) && n>=0 && n<=4000000); return n; }

function cocktail_sort(a) {
    alg_require(a instanceof Int32Array);
    let n = a.length;
    alg_require(((n >= 0) && (n <= 1000000)));
    alg_require((a.length == n));
    let low = 0;
    let high = alg_sub(n, 1);
    let i = 0;
    let changed = 1;
    let temp = 0;
    while (((low < high) && (changed != 0))) {
        changed = 0;
        i = low;
        while ((i < high)) {
            if ((a[i] > a[alg_add(i, 1)])) {
                temp = a[i];
                a[i] = a[alg_add(i, 1)];
                a[alg_add(i, 1)] = temp;
                changed = 1;
            }
            i = alg_add(i, 1);
        }
        high = alg_sub(high, 1);
        i = high;
        while ((i > low)) {
            if ((a[alg_sub(i, 1)] > a[i])) {
                temp = a[i];
                a[i] = a[alg_sub(i, 1)];
                a[alg_sub(i, 1)] = temp;
                changed = 1;
            }
            i = alg_sub(i, 1);
        }
        low = alg_add(low, 1);
    }
    return 0;
}

let a = new Int32Array([4, 1, 3, 1]);
let result = cocktail_sort(a);
console.log(result);
// Expected a: [1, 1, 3, 4]
console.log(Array.from(a));