Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!sri-spam!sri-unix!quintus!ok
From: ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Is it Art or is it Engineering
Keywords: Art Engineering Tolerances
Message-ID: <635@cresswell.quintus.UUCP>
Date: 9 Feb 88 07:00:25 GMT
References: <6879@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <4618@teddy.UUCP>
Organization: Quintus Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA
Lines: 10

In article <4618@teddy.UUCP>, svb@teddy.UUCP (Stephen V. Boyle) writes:
> Sure, there are some examples of "canned" routines and algorithms (quicksort
> is what immediately comes to mind)

Oh dear, I do hope not.  Everybody seems to be hypnotised by the NAME
"quicksort".  If you check a good reference (Knuth AofP, for example)
you'll find that quicksort is ***not*** a good general-purpose sort!
For a generic sort (comparison is a caller-supplied function, not a
single machine instruction selected at compile-time, or is string
comparison) merge-sort beats quick-sort handsomely.