Difference between Merge sort and Heap sort?

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Merge sort and Heap sort are both comparison-based sorting algorithms, but they differ in their approach and performance.

Merge sort is a divide-and-conquer algorithm that divides the input array into two halves, recursively sorts them, and then merges the sorted halves.
Heap sort is based on the concept of a binary heap, which is a complete binary tree where each node is greater than or equal to its children. It involves building a max heap and repeatedly extracting the maximum element.
Merge sort has a time complexity of O(n log n) in all cases, while Heap sort has a worst-case time complexity of O(n log n) and a best-case time complexity of O(n log n).
Merge sort requires additional space for merging the sorted halves, making it less memory-efficient than Heap sort.
Heap sort is an in-place sorting algorithm, meaning it doesn't require additional space beyond the input array.
Merge sort is stable, meaning it preserves the relative order of equal elements, while Heap sort is not stable.
Merge sort is often preferred for sorting linked lists, while Heap sort is commonly used for sorting arrays.

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