Investigating the effect of implementation languages and large problem sizes on the tractability and efficiency of sorting algorithms

Fagbola, Temitayo Matthew; Thakur, Surendra Colin

Abstract

Sorting is a data structure operation involving a re-arrangement of an unordered set of elements with witnessed real life applications for load balancing and energy conservation in distributed, grid and cloud computing environments. However, the rearrangement procedure often used by sorting algorithms differs and significantly impacts on their computational efficiencies and tractability for varying problem sizes. Currently, which combination of sorting algorithm and implementation language is highly tractable and efficient for solving large sized-problems remains an open challenge. In this paper, the effect of implementation languages and problem sizes on tractability and execution times of some sorting algorithms is investigated. A Goal/Question/Metric approach was adopted for the experimental design. The algorithms were implemented in Java and ‘C’. Eight pseudo-random integer arrays with sizes between 100,000 and 5,000,000 were generated for testing purpose. The results obtained reveal the unique robustness of Java to implement large sorting solutions more efficiently at higher tractability than ‘C’ while quick sort emerge as the most efficient method for all problem sizes.

Citation

Fagbola, T. M., & Thakur, S. C. (2019). Investigating the effect of implementation languages and large problem sizes on the tractability and efficiency of sorting algorithms. International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology, 12(2), 196-203

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jan 28, 2024
• Journal: International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 196-203
• Keywords: Efficiency; Problem size; Sorting algorithm tractability; Implementation languages
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4161548
• Publisher URL: http://www.irphouse.com/ijert19/ijertv12n2_08.pdf