Bubble Sort Implementation Using a Single for Loop in C

I recently decided to revisit the Bubble Sort algorithm in C. Still, instead of using the typical nested loops, it would be interesting to challenge myself to implement it with just a single for loop. It turned out to be a fun experiment! Here's the code I came up with, and I’d love to get some feedback on it. Maybe it could even help others curious about alternative ways to approach classic problems.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int a[] = {22, 33, 55, 44, 11};
    int n = sizeof(a) / sizeof(a[0]);

    
    for (int i = 0; i < n - 1; i++) {
        if (a[i] > a[i + 1]) {
            
            int temp = a[i];
            a[i] = a[i + 1];
            a[i + 1] = temp;
        }

        if (i == n - 2) {
            n--; 
            i = -1;    
        }
    }

    return 0;
}

Enhanced Code: Adding Print Statements for Clarity

To better understand how the array evolves after each iteration, I added print statements:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int a[] = {22, 33, 55, 44, 11};
    int n = sizeof(a) / sizeof(a[0]);

    
    for (int i = 0; i < n - 1; i++) {
        if (a[i] > a[i + 1]) {
            
            int temp = a[i];
            a[i] = a[i + 1];
            a[i + 1] = temp;
        }

        
        printf("Array after iteration %d:\n", i + 1);
        for (int j = 0; j < n; j++) {
            printf(" %d", a[j]);
        }
        printf("\n");

        
        if (i == n - 2) {
            n--; 
            i = -1;    
        }
    }
    
    printf("Sorted Array\n");
    for (int j = 0; j < sizeof(a) / sizeof(a[0]); j++) {
            printf(" %d", a[j]);
    }

    return 0;
}

Output Example:

Here’s the output for the input array {22, 33, 55, 44, 11}:

Array after iteration 1:
 22 33 55 44 11
Array after iteration 2:
 22 33 44 55 11
Array after iteration 3:
 22 33 44 11 55
Array after iteration 4:
 22 33 11 44 55
Array after iteration 5:
 22 11 33 44 55
Array after iteration 6:
 11 22 33 44 55
Sorted Array
 11 22 33 44 55

This approach could be further optimized by introducing a flag to detect sorted arrays early and exit the loop.