mlw <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > quicksort is a pretty poor algorithm if your data is in some kind of order > already.
Only if you fail to take standard precautions against making a bad choice of pivot element; every discussion I've ever seen of quicksort explains ways to avoid that pitfall. Solaris' problem seems to be a more subtle issue having to do with large numbers of equal keys. The form of quicksort that Knuth presents is tuned to behave well in that situation, at the cost of exchanging equal records (cf. his exercise 5.2.2.18) ... perhaps Sun overlooked that particular hack, or got it wrong. regards, tom lane ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster