In this context, sorting and the exponential nature of it, it would have been better to use a log base 2 example, rather than a natural log example.
The generalized cost of sorting is log2(n) compares per record. That said, in the last 15 years CPU time has not been a major factor in how long a sort runs. It has been the data transfer time that is the limiting factor on sort elapsed time. 99% of the CPU time is overlapped with I/O time. CPU time is a resource and should not be wasted, no question about that, but it is probably not a factor in the original poster's question. Chris Blaicher -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John P. Baker Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2008 7:42 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Exponential growth (was how fast can I sort on mainframe (using DFSORT)?) Jim, Thanks for the reference. I have to admit that I did not even think about Wikipedia. I am somewhat old fashioned. I was digging through some old college textbooks on the analysis of infinite series. John P. Baker -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Mulder Sent: 03/09/2008 8:29 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Exponential growth (was how fast can I sort on mainframe (using DFSORT)?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth Jim Mulder z/OS System Test IBM Corp. Poughkeepsie, NY ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
