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Add Dutch National Flag sorting algorithm - #13802

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chan9an wants to merge 7 commits into
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chan9an wants to merge 7 commits into
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@chan9an

@chan9an chan9an commented Oct 29, 2025

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Implements the Dutch National Flag algorithm to sort an array of 0s, 1s, and 2s in-place. Includes error handling for invalid values and provides examples in the docstring.

Describe your change:

  • Add an algorithm?
  • Fix a bug or typo in an existing algorithm?
  • Add or change doctests? -- Note: Please avoid changing both code and tests in a single pull request.
  • Documentation change?

Checklist:

  • I have read CONTRIBUTING.md.
  • This pull request is all my own work -- I have not plagiarized.
  • I know that pull requests will not be merged if they fail the automated tests.
  • This PR only changes one algorithm file. To ease review, please open separate PRs for separate algorithms.
  • All new Python files are placed inside an existing directory.
  • All filenames are in all lowercase characters with no spaces or dashes.
  • All functions and variable names follow Python naming conventions.
  • All function parameters and return values are annotated with Python type hints.
  • All functions have doctests that pass the automated testing.
  • All new algorithms include at least one URL that points to Wikipedia or another similar explanation.

File added: arrays/dutch_national_flag_sort.py
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_national_flag_problem

chan9an and others added 2 commits October 29, 2025 22:44
Implements the Dutch National Flag algorithm to sort an array of 0s, 1s, and 2s in-place. Includes error handling for invalid values and provides examples in the docstring.
@algorithms-keeper algorithms-keeper Bot added the tests are failing Do not merge until tests pass label Oct 29, 2025
Implements the Dutch National Flag algorithm to sort an array of 0s, 1s, and 2s in-place. Includes error handling for invalid values and examples in the docstring.
@chan9an chan9an closed this Oct 29, 2025
@chan9an chan9an reopened this Oct 29, 2025
Refactor error message handling and update example array format.
@algorithms-keeper algorithms-keeper Bot added awaiting reviews This PR is ready to be reviewed tests are failing Do not merge until tests pass and removed tests are failing Do not merge until tests pass labels Oct 29, 2025
@cclauss

cclauss commented Sep 11, 2026

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Do we need more Dutch National Flag sorts? It is not a very useful algorithm.
@priya-sundaram-dev

@priya-sundaram-dev

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@cclauss My recommendation: close this as a duplicate. master already ships sorts/dutch_national_flag_sort.py — a full dutch_national_flag_sort(sequence: list) -> list with doctests and the standard O(n) three-way-partition writeup. This PR adds essentially the same algorithm under a new path (data_structures/arrays/dutch_national_flag_sort.py), so it's redundant.

On the broader question — I agree it's low-value as a standalone entry. Its one genuinely instructive idea (three-way partitioning) is already better contextualized in sorts/quick_sort_3_partition.py, which shows why the partition matters. So I wouldn't add a second copy. Thanks to the author regardless for the effort.

@cclauss cclauss closed this Sep 11, 2026
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3 participants