There are four sort methods according to rexxref.pdf, 5.3.6.33 - 5.3.6.36:
* sort
* sortWith
* stableSort
* stableSortWith
The sort* methods have the following documentation in common:
Sorts the Array of Comparable items into ascending order using an algorithm
that/is not
guaranteed to//
//be stable/, and returns the sorted Array.
The stableSort* methods have the following documentation in common:
Sorts the Array of Comparable items into ascending order using /a stable
Mergesort algorithm/, and
returns the sorted Array.
AFAIK it turned out to be the case that the mergesort algorithm was faster (or
at least as fast) as
the original (unstable) sort algorithm, such that sort* now also employ the
stable mergesort algorithm.
Therefore
* the documentation needs to be corrected, if possible dropping the term
"stable" as this makes
newcomers unsecure (does that really mean that the sorting order may be
changed?) who do not
know the meaning of "stable" in the context of sort algorithms,
* the stableSort* versions have become useless and should be either marked
prominently as
deprecated in the documentation or left out altogether (but leaving it in
the interpreter for
backlevel support).
What do you think?
---rony
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