A sorting network is an abstract mathematical model of a network of wires and comparator modules that is used to sort a sequence of numbers. Each comparator connects two wires and sorts the values by outputting the smaller value to one wire, and the larger to the other. The main difference between sorting networks and comparison sorting algorithms is that with a sorting network the sequence of comparisons is set in advance, regardless of the outcome of previous comparisons. This independence of comparison sequences is useful for parallel execution of the algorithms. Despite the simplicity of the model, sorting network theory is surprisingly deep and complex.
Read more about Sorting Network: Introduction, Optimal Sorting
Famous quotes containing the word network:
“A culture may be conceived as a network of beliefs and purposes in which any string in the net pulls and is pulled by the others, thus perpetually changing the configuration of the whole. If the cultural element called morals takes on a new shape, we must ask what other strings have pulled it out of line. It cannot be one solitary string, nor even the strings nearby, for the network is three-dimensional at least.”
—Jacques Barzun (b. 1907)