I would say you would be more likely to find a C programmer that understood sorting algorithms than a CF programmer. However, I think a true understanding of algorithms takes a formal education background. I had to learn discrete math and algorithm analysis before I truly understood what was going on behind a sorting function.
Things can get tough fast. Depending on how well sorted you data set and how big it is has a big effect on what is the fastest algorithm. Thus, the only way to truly know which one to use in a given circumstance is to do an actually proof. Of course, you could also just apply statistics and determine on the average, which is the fastest sorting algorithm. The fact that almost every language I know with a built-in sort function uses QuickSort should tell you something. Matt Liotta President & CEO Montara Software, Inc. http://www.montarasoftware.com/ 888-408-0900 x901 > -----Original Message----- > From: jon hall [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 10:54 AM > To: CF-Talk > Subject: Re: learning C? (was by exmaple (was RE: > http://examples.macromedia.com/coldfusion/examples/ down??) > > Monday, September 9, 2002, 12:53:28 PM, you wrote: > >> Matt wrote: > >> > >> A CF programmer already should have an understanding > >> of programming logic. Simply picking up another > >> garbage collected language with lots of built-in > >> functionality it only a matter of learning syntax. > >> With C that is not the case. > >> > PM> I'm a little confused... > > PM> Besides a deep appreciation for the garbage collector > PM> and a badge that says I'm a real programmer what do I > PM> gain by learning about all of the "nuts and bolts"? > > PM> Patrick > > I'm no expert here, but I believe part of the value is in the > algorithm's, and the logic behind the magic that all of the nice built > in CF functions hide from us. For instance all of the sorting > functions, the actual algorithms aren't really complex, but I never > would have understood the simple logic behind sorting an array if I > didn't have to sort an array in a way CF wouldn't magically do for me. > > Think about it for a second, if you had an array, and didn't have > arraySort(), how would you sort it? I'd bet a C guy would know in a > second. > > Sorting is probably just a small example, but the understanding of how > sorting works on a lower level than CF, would probably tell an > experienced coder right off that arraySort() would be the wrong > solution in a particular case, and they might know a much more > efficient sorting algorithm to implement. > > -- > jon > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ______________________________________________________________________ Your ad could be here. Monies from ads go to support these lists and provide more resources for the community. http://www.fusionauthority.com/ads.cfm FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
