Chau N, Legras B, Benamghar L, Martin J
Int J Biomed Comput. 1983 May;14(3):239-48. doi: 10.1016/0020-7101(83)90042-9.
The authors describe a new sorting method of files which belongs to the class of direct-addressing sorting methods. It makes use of a variant of the classical technique of 'virtual memory'. It is particularly well suited to mini- and micro-computers which have a small core memory (32 K words, for example) and are fitted with a direct-access peripheral device, such as a disc unit. When the file to be sorted is medium-sized (some thousand records), the running of the program essentially occurs inside the core memory and consequently, the method becomes very fast. This is very important because most medical files handled in our laboratory are in this category. However, the method is also suitable for big computers and large files; its implementation is easy. It does not require any magnetic tape unit, and it seems to us to be one of the fastest methods available.
作者描述了一种属于直接寻址排序方法类别的新文件排序方法。它利用了经典的“虚拟内存”技术的一种变体。它特别适合于具有小核心内存（例如32K字）并配备直接访问外围设备（如磁盘单元）的小型和微型计算机。当要排序的文件为中型（几千条记录）时，程序的运行基本上在核心内存内进行，因此该方法变得非常快。这非常重要，因为我们实验室处理的大多数医学文件都属于这一类别。然而，该方法也适用于大型计算机和大型文件；其实现很容易。它不需要任何磁带单元，在我们看来，它是可用的最快方法之一。
