Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-eddie.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!harvard!think!mit-eddie!barmar From: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) Newsgroups: net.lang Subject: Re: Time complexity of sort Message-ID: <334@mit-eddie.UUCP> Date: Thu, 7-Nov-85 02:39:30 EST Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.334 Posted: Thu Nov 7 02:39:30 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 8-Nov-85 21:23:48 EST References: <4516@alice.UUCP> Reply-To: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA Lines: 16 In article <4516@alice.UUCP> ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) writes: >If I remember right, even though the time complexity of sort is O(log n) >on a single processor, You remember wrong, it is O(n log n) on a uniprocessor. With enough processors (either n or log n, I'm not sure) it becomes O(log n). >the median of a set can be found in O(n). >It is hard to imagine how this might be done, but... You don't have to imagine, you can read the Programming Pearls column of the latest CACM, in which this very problem is discussed. -- Barry Margolin ARPA: barmar@MIT-Multics UUCP: ..!genrad!mit-eddie!barmar