What sorting method works by repeatedly exchanging pairs of out-of-order elements?

Bubble sort is a straightforward sorting algorithm that operates by repeatedly stepping through the list to be sorted, comparing adjacent pairs of elements, and exchanging them if they are in the wrong order. This process continues until the entire list is sorted.

The mechanism behind bubble sort is to "bubble" larger elements to the end of the list through successive comparisons and swaps, hence the name. This method is particularly intuitive because it closely mirrors how one might manually sort a list by comparing adjacent items and adjusting their positions.

The other sorting methods operate on different principles: quick sort uses a divide-and-conquer approach, insertion sort builds the final sorted array one element at a time, and selection sort repeatedly selects the minimum (or maximum) element from the unsorted portion and moves it to the sorted portion. None of these methods rely on the repeated pairwise exchanges characteristic of the bubble sort.