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Ask Slashdot: How Do You Sort?

Posted by Soulskill on from the sort-of-slowly dept.

camperdave writes "I was recently going through a pile of receipts and other papers to put them into order by date. Lacking one of those fancy sorting sticks they have at the office, I wound up with all sorts of piles and I was getting confused as to which pile was for what. Finally, it struck me: Why don't I use one of the many sorting algorithms I learned back in my computer science classes? So I swept all the papers back into the box and did a radix sort on them. It worked like a charm. Since then, I've had occasion to try quicksorts and merge sorts. So, when you have to physically sort things, what algorithm (if any) do you use?"

11 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. Ob xkcd by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 5, Funny

    The obligatory xkcd

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    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  2. Bucket sort or bin sort by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Some days I use one; other days I use the other.

  3. Bogosort by igny · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just drop a pile of papers on the staircase, and then repeat if they did not land in the right order.

    --
    In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. - Yogi Berra
  4. Shredsort by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I find Shredsort to be the fastest.

    1. Re:Shredsort by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hmm, that's O(n).

      Trashsort is O(1)

    2. Re:Shredsort by ClickOnThis · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hmm, that's O(n).

      Trashsort is O(1)

      But IdentityTheftSort is O(n!).

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    3. Re:Shredsort by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      > But IdentityTheftSort is O(n!).

      I thought it was O(noes!) ?

  5. Re:GPUs by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can the shader units of a GPU be harnessed to accelerate sorting?

    They can, but you have to either use a very slow GPU, or have very fast fingers.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  6. My method by synaptik · · Score: 5, Funny

    I punch 3 holes in every receipt: one each for parent, left, and right. Then I attach them all by string, in a balanced tree. If I need multiple search keys, I just use different colors of string, and different sets of holes. Rebalancing can be a bit of a bitch, after insertion. (I never delete.)

    --
    HSJ$$*&#^!#+++ATH0
    NO CARRIER
  7. Yes - the Pile sort... by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 4, Funny

    Assuming the bottom of the pile is the oldest....

    1) decide how tall you would like the pile.
    2) move that much of the pile to a temp location.
    3) remove the remaining pile to the garbage/recycle/shred bin, as appropriate
    4) move the temp pile back to the production pile area.


    You never said you were looking for anything... sorting piles of kipple seems to be a rather dull hobby.

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  8. Physically? by geminidomino · · Score: 3, Funny

    When I'm sorting things in meatspace, I use a heap sort.

    I throw all the shit into a heap, then pick out the good bits.