sort
1. <application, algorithm> To arrange a collection of items in some
specified order. The items - records in a file or data structures in memory -
consist of one or more fields or members. One of these fields is designated as
the "sort key" which means the records will be ordered according to the value of
that field. Sometimes a sequence of key fields is specified such that if all
earlier keys are equal then the later keys will be compared. Within each field
some ordering is imposed, e.g. ascending or descending numerical, lexical
ordering, or date.
Sorting is the subject of a great deal of study since it is a common operation
which can consume a lot of computer time. There are many well-known sorting
algorithms with different time and space behaviour and programming complexity.
Examples are quicksort, insertion sort, bubble sort, heap sort, and tree sort.
These employ many different data structures to store sorted data, such as
arrays, linked lists, and binary trees.
2. <tool> The Unix utility program for sorting lines of files.
Unix manual page: sort(1).
(1997-02-12)
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