In one of my algorithms courses I just started learning divide and conquer algorithms and the first example provided by my instructor is Merge Sort. My instructor describes Merge Sort using pseudo code, but unapologetically leaves out a lot of details like merging, etc. This is perfect for me since in addition to algorithms I am also learning Python and this gives me a chance to write a Merge Sort using Python for the first time.

## Merge Sort in Python

Merge Sort breaks the problem of sorting a list into smaller, similar subproblems. It recursively breaks the list in half, sorts those smaller lists, and merges them together to eventually form the original list in sorted order.

This sounds like a pretty cool algorithm to tackle so I open up Pythonista 3 on my iPad Pro and begin creating a function that takes as its only input, a list. To make this simple, I am going to assume this list is made up of integers only.

Here is my initial solution for Merge Sort in Python. The spacing is a bit off due to copy and paste.

```def merge_sort(integers):
""" Returns a sorted list of integers

>>> merge_sort([])
[]
>>> merge_sort([1])
[1]
>>> merge_sort([2, 1])
[1, 2]
>>> merge_sort([2, 1, 4])
[1, 2, 4]
>>> merge_sort([2, 1, 4, 3])
[1, 2, 3, 4]
>>> merge_sort([2, 15, 89, 27, 16, 34, 120, 65, 51, 1, 54, 72, 210, 27])
[1, 2, 15, 16, 27, 27, 34, 51, 54, 65, 72, 89, 120, 210]
"""

length = len(integers)

# base case
if (length < 2):
return integers

# split the list in half and sort each half
midpoint = length // 2
left = merge_sort(integers[:midpoint])
right = merge_sort(integers[midpoint:])

# merge the two sorted lists into 1 larger list
merged_integers = []

# keep track of position in left and right lists
left_index = 0
right_index = 0

# perform merge. take smaller of left-most
# integer in each list and place in merged list.
# stop when either list is empty and append
# the remaining items from the non-empty list
while True:
if left[left_index] <= right[right_index]:
merged_integers.append(left[left_index])
left_index += 1
else:
merged_integers.append(right[right_index])
right_index += 1

if left_index > len(left) - 1:
merged_integers += right[right_index:]
break

if right_index > len(right) - 1:
merged_integers += left[left_index:]
break

return merged_integers
```

Once I confirmed my solution worked, I did a bit of searching to see if I was even close and if there were some obvious optimizations. I found a post on stackoverflow that offered a more elegant solution to ending the while loop and merging the remaining integers once one of the lists became empty. I changed the while loop and the bit of code at the end. This provides a more meaningful finish to the while loop, less comparisons in the loop, and a simple merge at the end that merges both lists, even the empty one. I hadn't thought about merging the empty list as well, which is unnecessary, but not problematic.

```	# perform merge. take smaller of left-most
# integer in each list and place in merged list.
# stop when finished adding integers from either list.
while left_index < len(left) and right_index < len(right):
if left[left_index] <= right[right_index]:
merged_integers.append(left[left_index])
left_index += 1
else:
merged_integers.append(right[right_index])
right_index += 1

# add any remaining items from the non-empty list
merged_integers += left[left_index:]
merged_integers += right[right_index:]```

Here is the final result of programming Merge Sort in Python with a tad bit of help from the Internet.

```def merge_sort(integers):
""" Returns a sorted list of numbers

>>> merge_sort([])
[]
>>> merge_sort([1])
[1]
>>> merge_sort([2, 1])
[1, 2]
>>> merge_sort([2, 1, 4])
[1, 2, 4]
>>> merge_sort([2, 1, 4, 3])
[1, 2, 3, 4]
>>> merge_sort([2, 15, 89, 27, 16, 34, 120, 65, 51, 1, 54, 72, 210, 27])
[1, 2, 15, 16, 27, 27, 34, 51, 54, 65, 72, 89, 120, 210]
"""

length = len(integers)

# base case
if (length < 2):
return integers

# split the list in half and sort each half
midpoint = length // 2
left = merge_sort(integers[:midpoint])
right = merge_sort(integers[midpoint:])

# merge the two sorted lists into 1 larger list
merged_integers = []

# keep track of position in left and right lists
left_index = 0
right_index = 0

# perform merge. take smaller of left-most
# integer in each list and place in merged list.
# stop when finished adding integers from either list.
while left_index < len(left) and right_index < len(right):
if left[left_index] <= right[right_index]:
merged_integers.append(left[left_index])
left_index += 1
else:
merged_integers.append(right[right_index])
right_index += 1

# add any remaining items from the non-empty list
merged_integers += left[left_index:]
merged_integers += right[right_index:]

return merged_integers
```

## Python Optimizations Leave Me Wondering

I am not so sure about the performance of re-calculating the length of the left and right lists in the while loop over and over.

`while left_index < len(left) and right_index < len(right):`

It seems like it would better to set those values to variables ahead of time so one is not calling the len function over and over. I tried searching for information on this, but didn't find anything yet. If I do, I will update this article.

As an FYI, I had already thought about this optimization in my original code. Notice at the beginning of the function that I set the length of integers to a variable to avoid calling it twice.

```	length = len(integers)

# base case
if (length < 2):
return integers

# split the list in half and sort each half
midpoint = length // 2```

This may be unnecessary and perhaps even worse. I am not sure at the moment. I do know that it is definitely inconistent with calling the len functions over and over in the while loop, but I am leaving it for now I until I learn more about Python and if/how it optimizes code.

## Pythonista 3 on iPad Pro

I haven't mentioned this before, but I wrote this Merge Sort using Pythonista 3 on my 12.9" iPad Pro. I absolutely love Pythonista 3. Here is a screenshot of me re-running the Doctests on the Merge Sort algorithm just after making that change to the while loop and code at the end. I particularly love that Pythonista 3 supports split screen.

## Python Doctests

I plan to start adding Doctests to all my code samples using Python. I realize they are not a replacement for unit tests, but I find Doctests extremely useful for my simple coding exercises and Pythonista 3 fully supports running them. They came in really handy after I made a change to the Merge Sort algorithm. I made the changes and re-ran the Doctests and all 6 passed, which provided me re-assurance that the code still worked (at least as good as the Doctests).

```	>>> merge_sort([])
[]
>>> merge_sort([1])
[1]
>>> merge_sort([2, 1])
[1, 2]
>>> merge_sort([2, 1, 4])
[1, 2, 4]
>>> merge_sort([2, 1, 4, 3])
[1, 2, 3, 4]
>>> merge_sort([2, 15, 89, 27, 16, 34, 120, 65, 51, 1, 54, 72, 210, 27])
[1, 2, 15, 16, 27, 27, 34, 51, 54, 65, 72, 89, 120, 210]
```

The Doctests mainly test for the edge cases. The empty list and one item list test the base case. The 2 item list tests right at the edge of the base case ( length < 2 ). The 3 item list tests an odd number of integers. The 4 item list tests an even number of integers. Finally, I just threw in a bigger list, which also contains duplicates. I could include a test with 0, which is a unique integer, and that would be a really good test. Including a really big number would be a reasonable test as well.

Doctests are awesome, and I will continue to use them. I need to start including unit tests as well.

## Merge Sort Array Optimizations

I am writing this section several weeks after I wrote the original article on Merge Sort in Python. A new course I am taking on Algorithms and a recent HackerRank Cracking the Coding Interview programming challenge has me re-thinking the way I handled arrays in the previous algorithm. I realize now there are a couple of obvious performance improvements that can be made in my original code.

This bit of code is not performance friendly:

```# split the list in half and sort each half
midpoint = length // 2
left = merge_sort(integers[:midpoint])
right = merge_sort(integers[midpoint:])

# merge the two sorted lists into 1 larger list
merged_integers = []
```

I am creating 3 new arrays with every recursive call to `merge_sort`. A new array is being created for the left half of the original array (`integers[:midpoint]`), and a new array is being created for the right half of the original array(`integers[midpoint:]`). In addition, I am creating a new temporary array, called `merged_integers`, for the merge. The algorithm works, but it is slower than it needs to be.

Here is another version of Merge Sort I just wrote in Python that fixes all those problems by passing in `lo` and `hi` values of the indexes of the array that need to be sorted as well as a single temporary array, `tmp`. This avoids all the array creation occurring recursively in the original code. This is an in-place sort.

```def merge_sort(arr):

def sort(arr, tmp, lo, hi):
if lo >= hi:
return

mid = (lo + hi) // 2

sort(arr, tmp, lo, mid)
sort(arr, tmp, mid + 1, hi)

merge(arr, tmp, lo, hi)

def merge(arr, tmp, lo, hi):
mid = (lo + hi) // 2
left_index = lo
right_index = mid + 1
index = lo

while left_index <= mid and right_index <= hi:
if arr[left_index] <= arr[right_index]:
tmp[index] = arr[left_index]
left_index += 1
else:
tmp[index] = arr[right_index]
right_index += 1

index += 1

if left_index <= mid:
tmp[index:hi + 1] = arr[left_index:mid + 1]
else:
tmp[index:hi + 1] = arr[right_index:hi + 1]

arr[lo:hi + 1] = tmp[lo:hi + 1]

if len(arr) < 2:
return

tmp = [None]*len(arr)

sort(arr, tmp, 0, len(arr) - 1)```
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