this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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Returns a sorted list in O(1) time (programming.dev)
submitted 9 months ago by JPDev@programming.dev to c/programmer_humor@programming.dev
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[–] mcmodknower@programming.dev 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

you can even have a case where you return the first element of the list if the list is not empty, and it will still be O(1).

[–] murtaza64@programming.dev 12 points 9 months ago (2 children)

you can make it sort the first k elements and it will still be O(1). Set k high enough and it might even be useful

[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 5 points 9 months ago

I set k to 50,000,000,000... that's more items than my shitty computer can fit in memory (including swsp) but I am now happy to celebrate my O(1) algorithm.

[–] kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 9 months ago

By that logic, any sorting implementation is O(1), as the indexing variable/address type has limited size