As the name suggests, this method is quicker than a standard bubble sort algorithm, because it sorts smaller groups only. The method involves choosing a pivot value for any list or sublist, usually by taking the middle (or one of the two middle items in an even-numbered list) and placing all items smaller than the pivot on the left and the larger items on the right, then the two groups created being treated as lists in the next stage. The process ends when all sublists are of length 1.