Acme-Rautavistic-Sort This module provides rautavistic sort functions. For more description of the functions see below. FUNCTION "dropsort" From http://www.dangermouse.net/esoteric/dropsort.html: Dropsort is a fast, one-pass sorting algorithm suitable for many applications. Algorithm Description Dropsort is run on an ordered list of numbers by examining the numbers in sequence, beginning with the second number in the list. If the number being examined is less than the number before it, drop it from the list. Otherwise, it is in sorted order, so keep it. Then move to the next number. After a single pass of this algorithm, the list will only contain numbers that are at least as large as the previous number in the list. In other words, the list will be sorted! Analysis Dropsort requires exactly n-1 comparisons to sort a list of length n, making this an O(n) algorithm, superior to the typical O(n logn) algorithms commonly used in most applications. Dropsort is what is known in the computer science field as a lossy algorithm. It produces a fast result that is correct, but at the cost of potentially losing some of the input data. Although to those not versed in the arts of computer science this may seem undesirable, lossy algorithms are actually a well-accepted part of computing. An example is the popular JPEG image compression format, which enjoys widespread use because of its versatility and usefulness. In similar fashion, dropsort promises to revolutionise the sorting of data in fields as diverse as commercial finance, government record-keeping, and space exploration. INSTALLATION To install this module, run the following commands: perl Build.PL ./Build ./Build test ./Build install SUPPORT AND DOCUMENTATION After installing, you can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command. perldoc Acme::Rautavistic::Sort You can also look for information at: Search CPAN http://search.cpan.org/dist/Acme-Rautavistic-Sort CPAN Request Tracker: http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Acme-Rautavistic-Sort AnnoCPAN, annotated CPAN documentation: http://annocpan.org/dist/Acme-Rautavistic-Sort CPAN Ratings: http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Acme-Rautavistic-Sort COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE Copyright (C) 2008 Steffen Schwigon This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.