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From: chris@umcp-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.lang
Subject: Re: A Simple Bubble Sort Function
Message-ID: <7524@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 17-Jun-84 18:43:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.7524
Posted: Sun Jun 17 18:43:34 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 20-Jun-84 01:05:22 EDT
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Organization: Univ. of Maryland, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 13

To forestall further comments:  yes, I know quicksort can be modified
such that sorting an already sorted list is no longer O(n^2).  (In
fact, the ``qsort'' routine in the C library is already so modified,
I believe.)  However, the point remains that if you know a great
deal about the input data, you can almost always come up with
something better than a ``generic'' sort algorithm.  For instance,
if you know that at most one item is out of place, you shouldn't
use any of the standard sorts.  Just don't claim that some particular
sort is ``the best,'' because there is no single best sort.
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci (301) 454-7690
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