in reply to Better sorting than the ST (was: Perl is dying)
in thread Perl is dying

In another node, you mention this came from APL. I comment here since this is the prettier version than in Re: An APL trick for the Schwartzian Transform.

Googling this has become Hard (not NP hard). Know of any off hand references?

  • Comment on Re^5: Perl is dying (better sorting than the ST)

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Re^2: Better sorting than the ST
by Aristotle (Chancellor) on Jan 09, 2007 at 20:35 UTC

    I have no idea whether this comes from APL, I’m afraid. I originally figured out this approach on my own and only afterwards learned that it’s been known in the Perl community for at least as long as the ST. (Oddly, it does not seem to get promoted much, despite its considerable advantages in the general case.) I have no idea about its history beyond that.

    Makeshifts last the longest.

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      It is one level of indirection harder and perhaps doesn't have as many "cool points."

      ⠤⠤ ⠙⠊⠕⠞⠁⠇⠑⠧⠊

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        I admit I never thought about the former. I did think of the latter, and it’s consistent with one of the weaknesses I see in the Perl community (namely the tendency to pick clever and shorter-looking solutions), which is why I will now often point out this approach when people talk about the ST.

        Hmm. Interesting thought. It won’t stop me from advocating this approach, but it’s a much more complete explanation of the ST’s prevalence than I had before.

        Makeshifts last the longest.

[reply]
        By "It", did you mean Aristotle's method or GRT|ST?
[reply]

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