bogo-sort

/boh`gohsort/ , n. (var.: stupid-sort ) The archetypical perversely awful
algorithm (as opposed to bubble sort , which is merely the generic bad
algorithm). Bogo-sort is equivalent to repeatedly throwing a deck of cards
in the air, picking them up at random, and then testing whether they are in
order. It serves as a sort of canonical example of awfulness. Looking at a
program and seeing a dumb algorithm, one might say Oh, I see, this program
uses bogo-sort. Esp. appropriate for algorithms with factorial or
super-exponential running time in the average case and probabilistically
infinite worst-case running time. Compare bogus , brute force. A spectacular
variant of bogo-sort has been proposed which has the interesting property
that, if the Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is true, it can
sort an arbitrarily large array in linear time. (In the Many-Worlds model,
the result of any quantum action is to split the universe-before into a
sheaf of universes-after, one for each possible way the state vector can
collapse; in any one of the universes-after the result appears random.) The
steps are: 1. Permute the array randomly using a quantum process, 2. If the
array is not sorted, destroy the universe (checking that the list is sorted
requires O(n) time). Implementation of step 2 is left as an exercise for the
reader.

