From: "Weirich, James" <James.Weirich@...>
Date: 2003-09-17T23:53:05+09:00
Subject: Re: scrambler one-liner

> > ....but I don't know what evil effects having the comparison be
> > random will have on a sorting algorithm.
> 
> Isn't that the point here?

Actually, no.  The point is to have a random distribution.  It is certainly
conceivable that sort{rand} might not produce a sufficiently random
distribution.  For instance, if sort were using something like a bubble
sort, then a value might not "bubble" too far from its original position
because the random comparisons only move it a few positions before the
random comparisons are satisfied.

Note that I'm not saying sort *does* work this way.  One would have to
analyse the situation before one could say.  I'm merely saying it is
possible.

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