super computer needed

[steve_poole]

Hi Folks, In recent Quanta magazines, Dilwyn and I printed text sorting code. But it transpires that the program is limited to sorting four-letter words on 32-bit computers. However, the program has considerable potential in that it can sort tens of millions of words at speeds far in excess of any other sorting program. So what is required is to run the code on a supercomputer to sort words of any length. There is virtually no need to modify the code, except to make it compatible with super-computer languages. If you have access to a high-end machine and would like to run this program on it, please contact Dilwyn who is co-author and will send you machine-readable copy.
The program will be printed in the next Quanta magazine for all to see.
This is a unique occasion to be at the cutting-edge of programming!
Steve Poole.

[vanpeebles]

How super is super?

[Mr_Navigator]

64 bit, lotsa mem, 3G proc+ i7?
alloy wheels, go faster stripes, custom paint job and QL sticker saying "QL'ers do it in black

[steve_poole]

To Vanpeebles :
A very big research machine would be able to test the program to its limits very rapidly. The aim is to test 128mega of 32-bit base-27 words, using up to 12characters. This will require 2E17 operations, hence the need for a fast processor! Our objective is to discover what the optimal sorting rate of number N characters is, the theoretical solution being factorial N!
We think that tally text sorting will have an optimum of around, say, 8 characters per word.
But actually running the program would be the best way of finding out.