Re: Algorithm help for unique string searching/counting within an array.

Gordon Sande wrote:
[snip]
This is a case where you would sort the pointers to (i.e. subscripts of) the array
rather than the array. It is often called a "formal sort". Then you can either
access the array in its old/natural order or in its sorted order. The sorted
order makes finding duplicates trivial as noted.

Formal sorts get used when the objects to be sorted are big, vary in size, may
only be virtual, etc, etc.
[snip]

I'd never heard the term "formal sort" before. This sounds like what I've always known as a "tag sort."

Louis
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