[[Category:Encyclopedia]]'''Sorting''' is a way of arranging a group of things in a specified order. Normally, the order is a "natural order." Examples of natural orders are counting order or alphabetical order. In computing, time and memory usage are of concern when sorting. Some algorithms are very fast, but use a lot of memory, or vice versa. Usually, speed has higher priority. The speed of an algorithm is often determined by the number of compares and/or swaps required. This is denoted as its "order" and is shown in [[Big O]] notation. For example, a [[Quicksort]] is usually noted for being of "order n log n" (where n is the size of the group). This shown in Big O notation as "O(''n log(n)'')." Sorting algorithms often have different orders depending on characteristics of the group being sorted. For example, the Quicksort will perform at O(''n^2'') when the group is already ordered. A sort which "swaps" elements within the group is called an "in-place sort." A sort which moves elements to another group, destroys, or simply ignores the original group is sometimes called an "out-of-place sort" or a "not-in-place sort." An example of an out-of-place sort is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_sort counting sort].

For complete implementations of various sorting algorithms, see [[:Category:Sorting Algorithms]].

For examples of how to use sorting functionality provided by a language, see:

• [[Sort an array of composite structures]]
• [[Sorting an Array of Integers]]
• [[Sorting Using a Custom Comparator]]