Merging sorted sequences was the fundamental data processing framework of the COBOL era, and again of the MapReduce era. But I always found myself writing clumsy, special-case-filled merge code for it.
3/4 to 1/2 a century ago, you might have found yourself wiring clumsy, special-case-filled plugboards for it: cf http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/IBM077CollatorPrinciplesOfOperation- NeffR.pdf (with the resulting merge --at least ca. 1945-- running at the amazing rate of 8 records/second!)
-Dave -- To unsubscribe: http://lists.canonical.org/mailman/listinfo/kragen-discuss
