Sort algorithm

[Andrei Alexandrescu (See Website For Email)]

Xinok wrote:
> Andrei Alexandrescu (See Website For Email) Wrote:
> 
>> Alain wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>> 
>>> I have a question related to the sort function. Does anyone know
>>> which algorithm is used in the built-in array sort function. I
>>> needed to sort 256 integers. By using a radix sort, i got 30 usec
>>> on my laptop. But using the built-in sort, i get 20 usec. I
>>> thought the radix sort was pretty efficient. Any idea?
>> Radix sort's running time has a larger multiplier than qsort. Try 
>> sorting more numbers and beyond a side radix sort may win.
>> 
>> Andrei
> 
> You may also want to try shell sort, it's very efficient and easy to
> implement. Radix Sort takes a very large block of data to be the
> fastest algorithm. I compared it against shell sort before, it took a
> few million elements for radix sort to be quicker.

Shell sort? I thought it sucks. :o) Why would anyone use it?

Andrei