Heap sort is a sorting algorithm that uses a heap data structure. It works in two phases: first it builds a max heap from the input data, then it repeatedly extracts the largest element from the heap and inserts it into the sorted end of the data. This results in the elements being sorted in O(n log n) time using only O(1) additional memory space, making it efficient for both time and space complexity. It performs better than quicksort in the worst case but requires random access to data unlike merge sort.