Abstract

We present and evaluate several new optimization and implementation techniques for string sorting. In particular, we study a recently published radix sorting algorithm, Forward radixsort, that has a provably good worst-case behavior. Our experimental results indicate that radix sorting is considerably faster (often more than twice as fast) than comparison-based sorting methods. This is true even for small input sequences. We also show that it is possible to implement a radix sort with good worst-case running time without sacrificing average-case performance. Our implementations are competitive with the best previously published string sorting algorithms. Code, test data, and test results are available from the World Wide Web. 1. Introduction Radix sorting is a simple and very efficient sorting method that has received too little attention. A common misconception is that a radix sorting algorithm either has to inspect all the characters of the input or use an inordinate amount of extra...

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