4 ms·

Not good that Java's sort still has bugs.

• wiz21c 8y ago
  I'd say it the other way around : 1/ it's amazing that a code that is used in countless occurences can still have a bug; 2/ (I've studied sorting algorithms for a while) finding such a bug is very clever... Kudo's to the authors.
  • elygre 8y ago
    The java bug (https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8203864 https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8203864) has some more information on the history, including a reference to an earlier paper from 2015 relating to the same problem. Apparently, the earlier paper had an error, so the implemented fix was not complete. Still intriguing, though!
  • pvg 8y ago
    It looks deceptively like it but 'kudos' is not plural of a kudo (or reference to some awesome thing Kudo once did).
    • basil-rash 8y ago
      Is it really not? The dictionary says otherwise, albeit by back-formation (as is the English way). https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kudo https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kudo
    • klmr 8y ago
      … and even if it were a plural the apostrophe would be misplaced.
  • willtim 8y ago
    What's amazing is how little understanding we seem to have over such critical widely-used code. Java opted for a complex and arguably unproven algorithm, so it was always a risk. We now have functional languages that are able to express provably correct sorting algorithms, so the bar is getting higher.
    • grimbly 8y ago
      Provably correct and provably fast are widely different concepts.