Discussion of large systems

[Richard]

In article <1162408830.6425.86.camel at linux.site>,
    Warren Wolfe <wizard at voyager.net>  writes:

>     For myself, I like to compare algorithms.  There was a WONDERFUL DOS
> program out there back in the early IBM PC days that took random data
> (or data pre-sorted in various ways) and sorted it using various
> algorithms, from bubble sort to heap sort to quicksort.  The cool thing
> was that all the retrieval and display code was identical, so one could
> literally WATCH the data being sorted, and the time it took was affected
> ONLY by the efficiency of the sorting algorithm.  VERY instructional.
> This program was called, unimaginatively, SORTDEMO.  As computers got
> faster, it became pointless, as ALL the sorts were over about the same
> time they started, so one could no longer watch the data being
> re-arranged.  I just checked, and I still have that program.  Maybe I'll
> set up an old PC just to run it... it's sort of like a cyber-lava-lamp.

What you describe with SORTDEMO is very valuable as an instructional
aid and has become a field of study in its own right.  Google for
"algorithm visualization".  At first it was a few people interested in
visualizing algorithms for instructional purposes or for interesting
experiments with their scientific visualization programs, but it has
become a field of study in its own right since the mid 90s.  (Hey, it
qualifies for the ten year rule!)
-- 
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
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