---
title: "Stooge sort"
chunk: 1/1
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stooge_sort"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T11:39:14.899464+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Stooge sort is a recursive sorting algorithm. It is notable for its exceptionally poor time complexity of 
  
    
      
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          n
          
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            3
            
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            log
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            1.5
          
        
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    {\displaystyle O(n^{\log 3/\log 1.5})}
  
 = 
  
    
      
        O
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          n
          
            2.7095...
          
        
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    {\displaystyle O(n^{2.7095...})}
  

The algorithm's running time is thus slower compared to reasonable sorting algorithms, and is slower than bubble sort, a canonical example of a fairly inefficient sort. It is, however, more efficient than Slowsort. The name comes from The Three Stooges.
The algorithm is defined as follows:

If the value at the start is larger than the value at the end, swap them.
If there are three or more elements in the list, then:
Stooge sort the initial 2/3 of the list
Stooge sort the final 2/3 of the list
Stooge sort the initial 2/3 of the list again
It is important to get the integer sort size used in the recursive calls by rounding the 2/3 upwards, e.g. rounding 2/3 of 5 should give 4 rather than 3, as otherwise the sort can fail on certain data.


== Implementation ==


=== Pseudocode ===


== References ==


=== Sources ===
Black, Paul E. "stooge sort". Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures. National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
Cormen, Thomas H.; Leiserson, Charles E.; Rivest, Ronald L.; Stein, Clifford (2001) [1990]. "Problem 7-3". Introduction to Algorithms (2nd ed.). MIT Press and McGraw-Hill. pp. 161–162. ISBN 0-262-03293-7.


== External links ==
Sorting Algorithms (including Stooge sort)
Stooge sort – implementation and comparison