External Sort

This is a learning exercise to understand some of the limitations of external sorting.

The goal is to omptimally sort a large dataset, files of int values for simplicity, with a small working memory.

Learning objectives:

1. Understand chunking and merging
2. Handle the following edge cases:
   • The working memory is smaller than the (number of chunks * 4 bytes)
   • The number of files you can open (sysctl kern.maxfiles) on your machine is smaller than your working memory.
   • More to encounter..
3. Build a custom min-heap implementation to keep track of the file stream pointer when popped?

Learnings:

Current Metrics: File size: 137mb Buffer size: 1mb Time: 225.553 seconds