Quicksort is generally better than mergesort in the following scenarios:
When sorting small datasets. Quicksort has lower overhead and is faster for small arrays due to its efficient implementation[1][3].
When the data fits in cache. Quicksort exhibits good cache locality, making it faster than mergesort in virtual memory environments[3][4].
When space is limited. Quicksort is an in-place algorithm that doesn't require additional storage space, unlike mergesort which needs O(n) extra space[1][3][4].
When the data is randomly distributed. Quicksort performs well on average with a time complexity of O(n log n), outperforming mergesort which is O(n log n) in all cases[1][2].
When the data has many duplicates. Quicksort's performance improves when there are many repeated elements, as it can use a 3-way partitioning scheme[1].
However, mergesort has advantages in certain cases:
