Although insertion sort is an <span style="font-family: serif">[[O]](''n''<sup>2</sup>)</span> algorithm, its simplicity, low overhead, good locality of reference and efficiency make it a good choice in two cases: <br>
(i) small <span style="font-family: serif">''n''</span>, <br>
(ii) as the final finishing-off algorithm for <span style="font-family: serif">[[O]](''n'' log''n'')</span> algorithms such as [[Merge sort|mergesort]] and [[quicksort]].