Just a quick question about the sort() function for arrays in Flash MX. How efficient is it? I am currently developing a flash application that will need to read in hundreds of records from a database and sort them.
speed is crucial. Which is better? to use the built in sort() function or to create my own shell-sort?
I’m relatively new to actionscript, but i have strong experience developing (and sorting) in other languages.
Thanks,
hmm well ive never used the sort function in flash but I believe it wouldn’t be to hard to create your own sort and then do a speed test between the two of them.
dots,
the built in sort is as fast as anything i’ve written, but that’s no reason not to give it a go! 
i wrote an array prototype to sort multi-dimensional arrays by a given index. it’s a “natural” sort meaning that it will sort to [1,3,12] rather than [1,12,3]. you can see it here:http://proto.layer51.com/d.aspx?f=331
if speed is really an issue, be warned: you hit flash’s ceiling pretty fast in terms of performance. you might consider doing the sorting in another application. serverside if it’s a web app and bandwidth is not anticipated to be a problem, or a java applet if you want to keep it all on the client side. i’d expect even javascript to be faster, but haven’t tried.
let us know!
I tested a few simple arrays and found that the built in sort(function) is actually quite powerful. Sorting small arrays resulted in no difference/inconclusive. however, after arrays of more than 2,000 records, the built-in sort() actually worked faster the the shell-sort method. (Being almost twice as fast with arrays of 10,000) records.
as i only need to sort arrays of no more than several fundred records, i’ll stick to the built-in sort as it seems just as good and easier to use.
thanks for your suggestions
Dots