What are the applications of external sorting?

What are the applications of external sorting?

External sorting is used when dealing with large datasets that don't fit into memory. Common applications include database management, data warehousing, and processing large files in data analytics.

Can you give me an example of a real-world scenario where external sorting is necessary?

Sure! A common scenario is sorting large log files generated by web servers. These files can be several gigabytes in size, requiring external sorting techniques to efficiently organize the data.

How does external sorting differ from internal sorting?

External sorting involves sorting data that is too large to fit into memory, using disk storage, while internal sorting operates on data that can be fully loaded into memory.

What algorithms are commonly used for external sorting?

Some common algorithms for external sorting include the External Merge Sort and the Replacement Selection algorithm.