Cache-oblivious Distribution Sort
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Cache-oblivious Distribution Sort
The cache-oblivious distribution sort is a comparison-based sorting algorithm. It is similar to quicksort, but it is a cache-oblivious algorithm, designed for a setting where the number of elements to sort is too large to fit in a cache where operations are done. In the external memory model, the number of memory transfers it needs to perform a sort of N items on a machine with cache of size Z and cache lines of length L is O(\frac \log_Z N), under the tall cache assumption that Z = \Omega(L^2). This number of memory transfers has been shown to be asymptotically optimal for comparison sorts. This distribution sort also achieves the asymptotically optimal runtime complexity of \Theta(N \log N). Algorithm Overview Distribution sort operates on a contiguous array of N elements. To sort the elements, it performs the following: # Partition the array into \sqrt contiguous subarrays of size \sqrt, and recursively sort each subarray. # Distribute the elements of the sorted su ...
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Comparison Sort
A comparison sort is a type of sorting algorithm that only reads the list elements through a single abstract comparison operation (often a "less than or equal to" operator or a three-way comparison) that determines which of two elements should occur first in the final sorted list. The only requirement is that the operator forms a total preorder over the data, with: # if ''a'' ≤ ''b'' and ''b'' ≤ ''c'' then ''a'' ≤ ''c'' (transitivity) # for all ''a'' and ''b'', ''a'' ≤ ''b'' or ''b'' ≤ ''a'' ( connexity). It is possible that both ''a'' ≤ ''b'' and ''b'' ≤ ''a''; in this case either may come first in the sorted list. In a stable sort, the input order determines the sorted order in this case. A metaphor for thinking about comparison sorts is that someone has a set of unlabelled weights and a balance scale. Their goal is to line up the weights in order by their weight without any information except that obtained by placing two weights on the scale and seeing which one i ...
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Sorting Algorithm
In computer science, a sorting algorithm is an algorithm that puts elements of a List (computing), list into an Total order, order. The most frequently used orders are numerical order and lexicographical order, and either ascending or descending. Efficient sorting is important for optimizing the Algorithmic efficiency, efficiency of other algorithms (such as search algorithm, search and merge algorithm, merge algorithms) that require input data to be in sorted lists. Sorting is also often useful for Canonicalization, canonicalizing data and for producing human-readable output. Formally, the output of any sorting algorithm must satisfy two conditions: # The output is in monotonic order (each element is no smaller/larger than the previous element, according to the required order). # The output is a permutation (a reordering, yet retaining all of the original elements) of the input. For optimum efficiency, the input data should be stored in a data structure which allows random access ...
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Quicksort
Quicksort is an efficient, general-purpose sorting algorithm. Quicksort was developed by British computer scientist Tony Hoare in 1959 and published in 1961, it is still a commonly used algorithm for sorting. Overall, it is slightly faster than merge sort and heapsort for randomized data, particularly on larger distributions. Quicksort is a divide-and-conquer algorithm. It works by selecting a 'pivot' element from the array and partitioning the other elements into two sub-arrays, according to whether they are less than or greater than the pivot. For this reason, it is sometimes called partition-exchange sort. The sub-arrays are then sorted recursively. This can be done in-place, requiring small additional amounts of memory to perform the sorting. Quicksort is a comparison sort, meaning that it can sort items of any type for which a "less-than" relation (formally, a total order) is defined. Most implementations of quicksort are not stable, meaning that the relative order of equal ...
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Cache-oblivious Algorithm
In computing, a cache-oblivious algorithm (or cache-transcendent algorithm) is an algorithm designed to take advantage of a processor cache without having the size of the cache (or the length of the cache lines, etc.) as an explicit parameter. An optimal cache-oblivious algorithm is a cache-oblivious algorithm that uses the cache optimally (in an asymptotic sense, ignoring constant factors). Thus, a cache-oblivious algorithm is designed to perform well, without modification, on multiple machines with different cache sizes, or for a memory hierarchy with different levels of cache having different sizes. Cache-oblivious algorithms are contrasted with explicit ''loop tiling'', which explicitly breaks a problem into blocks that are optimally sized for a given cache. Optimal cache-oblivious algorithms are known for matrix multiplication, matrix transposition, sorting, and several other problems. Some more general algorithms, such as Cooley–Tukey FFT, are optimally cache-oblivious ...
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Cache (computing)
In computing, a cache ( ) is a hardware or software component that stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster; the data stored in a cache might be the result of an earlier computation or a copy of data stored elsewhere. A ''cache hit'' occurs when the requested data can be found in a cache, while a ''cache miss'' occurs when it cannot. Cache hits are served by reading data from the cache, which is faster than recomputing a result or reading from a slower data store; thus, the more requests that can be served from the cache, the faster the system performs. To be cost-effective and to enable efficient use of data, caches must be relatively small. Nevertheless, caches have proven themselves in many areas of computing, because typical computer applications access data with a high degree of locality of reference. Such access patterns exhibit temporal locality, where data is requested that has been recently requested already, and spatial locality, where d ...
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External Memory Model
In computing, external memory algorithms or out-of-core algorithms are algorithms that are designed to process data that are too large to fit into a computer's main memory at once. Such algorithms must be optimized to efficiently fetch and access data stored in slow bulk memory (auxiliary memory) such as hard drives or tape drives, or when memory is on a computer network. External memory algorithms are analyzed in the external memory model. Model External memory algorithms are analyzed in an idealized model of computation called the external memory model (or I/O model, or disk access model). The external memory model is an abstract machine similar to the RAM machine model, but with a cache in addition to main memory. The model captures the fact that read and write operations are much faster in a cache than in main memory, and that reading long contiguous blocks is faster than reading randomly using a disk read-and-write head. The running time of an algorithm in the external memor ...
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Median Of Medians
In computer science, the median of medians is an approximate (median) selection algorithm, frequently used to supply a good pivot for an exact selection algorithm, mainly the quickselect, that selects the ''k''th smallest element of an initially unsorted array. Median of medians finds an approximate median in linear time only, which is limited but an additional overhead for quickselect. When this approximate median is used as an improved pivot, the worst-case complexity of quickselect reduces significantly from quadratic to ''linear'', which is also the asymptotically optimal worst-case complexity of any selection algorithm. In other words, the median of medians is an approximate median-selection algorithm that helps building an asymptotically optimal, exact general selection algorithm (especially in the sense of worst-case complexity), by producing good pivot elements. Median of medians can also be used as a pivot strategy in quicksort, yielding an optimal algorithm, with worst-ca ...
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Cache-oblivious Algorithm
In computing, a cache-oblivious algorithm (or cache-transcendent algorithm) is an algorithm designed to take advantage of a processor cache without having the size of the cache (or the length of the cache lines, etc.) as an explicit parameter. An optimal cache-oblivious algorithm is a cache-oblivious algorithm that uses the cache optimally (in an asymptotic sense, ignoring constant factors). Thus, a cache-oblivious algorithm is designed to perform well, without modification, on multiple machines with different cache sizes, or for a memory hierarchy with different levels of cache having different sizes. Cache-oblivious algorithms are contrasted with explicit ''loop tiling'', which explicitly breaks a problem into blocks that are optimally sized for a given cache. Optimal cache-oblivious algorithms are known for matrix multiplication, matrix transposition, sorting, and several other problems. Some more general algorithms, such as Cooley–Tukey FFT, are optimally cache-oblivious ...
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Funnelsort
Funnelsort is a comparison-based sorting algorithm. It is similar to mergesort, but it is a cache-oblivious algorithm, designed for a setting where the number of elements to sort is too large to fit in a cache where operations are done. It was introduced by Matteo Frigo, Charles Leiserson, Harald Prokop, and Sridhar Ramachandran in 1999 in the context of the cache oblivious model. Mathematical properties In the external memory model, the number of memory transfers it needs to perform a sort of N items on a machine with cache of size Z and cache lines of length L is O \left(\tfrac \log_ N \right), under the tall cache assumption that Z = \Omega(L^2). This number of memory transfers has been shown to be asymptotically optimal for comparison sorts. Funnelsort also achieves the asymptotically optimal runtime complexity of \Theta(N \log N). Algorithm Basic overview Funnelsort operates on a contiguous array of N elements. To sort the elements, it performs the following ...
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External Sorting
External sorting is a class of sorting algorithms that can handle massive amounts of data. External sorting is required when the data being sorted do not fit into the main memory of a computing device (usually RAM) and instead they must reside in the slower external memory, usually a disk drive. Thus, external sorting algorithms are external memory algorithms and thus applicable in the external memory model of computation. External sorting algorithms generally fall into two types, distribution sorting, which resembles quicksort, and external merge sort, which resembles merge sort. The latter typically uses a hybrid sort-merge strategy. In the sorting phase, chunks of data small enough to fit in main memory are read, sorted, and written out to a temporary file. In the merge phase, the sorted subfiles are combined into a single larger file. Model External sorting algorithms can be analyzed in the external memory model. In this model, a cache or internal memory of size and an ...
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Sorting Algorithms
In computer science, a sorting algorithm is an algorithm that puts elements of a list into an order. The most frequently used orders are numerical order and lexicographical order, and either ascending or descending. Efficient sorting is important for optimizing the efficiency of other algorithms (such as search and merge algorithms) that require input data to be in sorted lists. Sorting is also often useful for canonicalizing data and for producing human-readable output. Formally, the output of any sorting algorithm must satisfy two conditions: # The output is in monotonic order (each element is no smaller/larger than the previous element, according to the required order). # The output is a permutation (a reordering, yet retaining all of the original elements) of the input. For optimum efficiency, the input data should be stored in a data structure which allows random access rather than one that allows only sequential access. History and concepts From the beginning of computi ...
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Comparison Sorts
Comparison or comparing is the act of evaluating two or more things by determining the relevant, comparable characteristics of each thing, and then determining which characteristics of each are similar to the other, which are different, and to what degree. Where characteristics are different, the differences may then be evaluated to determine which thing is best suited for a particular purpose. The description of similarities and differences found between the two things is also called a comparison. Comparison can take many distinct forms, varying by field: To compare things, they must have characteristics that are similar enough in relevant ways to merit comparison. If two things are too different to compare in a useful way, an attempt to compare them is colloquially referred to in English as "comparing apples and oranges." Comparison is widely used in society, in science and in the arts. General usage Comparison is a natural activity, which even animals engage in when dec ...
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