The display shows a number of 'Ops' which is an approximation of the total number of comparisons and item swaps that occurred during the sort. This value corresponds roughly to the complexity of the algorithm expressed in big-O notation. It doesn't reflect the implementation details that also contribute to algorithm performance. Different data sets will yield different performance for a given algorithm. An important characteristic of sort algorithms that has a large effect on their efficiency is how far elements are moved in a swap.
Bubble sort moves elements only a short distance and the array crawls into sorted order.
Better algorithms move elements farther in a single operation so that the array seems to jump into sorted order. The display technique used here really shows this effect. This applet redraws the array at various key points in the algorithm with a time delay inserted to make it run slow enough to watch. Use the 'Ops' figure for comparisons. For a comprehensive overview of sorting algorithms and algorithm complexity see the Sedgewick book.