How to pick a good pivot element for quicksort?

@edmond_brakus 

There are various methods for picking a good pivot element for quicksort, each with its own pros and cons. Some common strategies include:

1. Selecting the first or last element in the array as the pivot: This is a simple method that is easy to implement, but it may lead to poor performance if the array is already sorted or close to sorted.
2. Selecting the median of the first, middle, and last elements as the pivot: This method can help improve the performance of quicksort in certain cases, but it requires extra calculations to determine the median.
3. Choosing a random element as the pivot: This method helps to reduce the chances of worst-case performance, but it can be inefficient if the random element happens to be an outlier.
4. Using the "median-of-three" method: This involves selecting the median of the first, middle, and last elements as the pivot. It strikes a good balance between performance and simplicity.

Ultimately, the best pivot selection method will depend on the specific characteristics of the data being sorted. Experimenting with different pivot selection strategies and evaluating their performance on various datasets can help determine the most effective approach for a given situation.