Puzzle 9: The Disorganized Handyman

A disorganized handyman has mixed up his nuts and bolts in a bag and your task is to match them as quickly as possible. Curiously, as described in this video, a famous algorithm for sorting numbers, quicksort, provides an insight into solving this problem.

Puzzle Description

• The Disorganized Handyman (PDF)

Python Code

• quicksort.py (PY)
• quicksort-inplace.py (PY)

Assignment

• Do one or more of the exercises in The Disorganized Handyman puzzle.

Solution

• quicksort-exercise1.py (PY)

Programming Constructs and Algorithmic Paradigms Covered in this Puzzle

• In-place pivoting
• Recursive in-place sorting