Now I've had a friend over telling me one could sort 4 elements (balls for ex.) using 3 measurments with a standard scale. I tried and tried and TRIED but I just can't do it. Does anyone have an idea how would it be possible?
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sort 4 elements with 3 comparisons (not a homework question)
Started by Mihail121, Jan 17 2009 03:55 PM
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#2
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Posted 17 January 2009 - 06:43 PM
It's not possible. The minimum number of compare and swap-operations you need is five (assuming the data is not already partly sorted).
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#3
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Posted 17 January 2009 - 08:46 PM
Depends on how you define measurements. spaghetti sort could definitely do it.. =)
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