Linux Sort command

Question

I would like to know which sorting algorithm the linux SORT command uses?

Here is the source code for it - I think. csourcesearch.net/c/… — hookenz
– hookenz, Commented Nov 19, 2009 at 3:19

DigitalRoss · Accepted Answer · 2009-11-19 03:25:44Z

11

It¹ uses mergesort rather than quicksort or heapsort for two reasons:

mergesort is a stable sort and typically the efficient quicksort implementations are not
while it may do more swaps or moves it does fewer comparisons and so tends to work better with text input

^{1. Linux distros are free to choose their own sort utility but I imagine virtually all use GNU sort so I have described that.}

answered Nov 19, 2009 at 3:20

DigitalRoss

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1 Comment

Thanks for the answers to all guys. Will check the merge sort now.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:16:59Z

7

CommunityBot

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answered Nov 19, 2009 at 3:23

Jonathan

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