Which of the following is NOT a common sorting algorithm?

The correct answer is that Shape Sort is not a common sorting algorithm. Quick Sort, Merge Sort, and Heap Sort are all well-established algorithms used for sorting data in various contexts.

Quick Sort is known for its efficiency in average cases and its use of a divide-and-conquer approach, where the algorithm selects a 'pivot' and partitions the other elements into those less than the pivot and those greater. This process is recursive and leads to a sorted array.

Merge Sort is also a divide-and-conquer algorithm, but it divides the data into halves, sorts each half, and then merges them back together in a sorted manner. It is particularly favorable for its stable sort characteristics and predictable O(n log n) time complexity, making it useful for sorting linked lists.

Heap Sort involves building a binary heap from the data and then repeatedly extracting the maximum (or minimum) element from the heap to build the sorted array. It has a time complexity of O(n log n) and does not require additional space for sorting like Merge Sort does.

Shape Sort, however, does not refer to a standard or commonly recognized sorting algorithm in computer science. It may refer to a conceptual sorting activity or game, often used in early childhood education to help children recognize shapes,