# WIP: faster string sort

**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/wip-faster-string-sort/7671
**Category:** Internals & Design
**Tags:** strings, sort
**Created:** [December 10, 2017, 11:54am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/wip-faster-string-sort/7671 "2017-12-10T11:54:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 74

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### Author: ![xiaodai](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/xiaodai/32/15937_2.png) [@xiaodai](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/xiaodai)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2018, 2:35am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/wip-faster-string-sort/7671/74 "2018-01-28T02:35:14Z")

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A faster `sort` for strings has been published as part of `SortingLab.jl`. The function is `radixsort`

 ![sort_vs_radixsort_1m](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/f/4/f46556123f9fa5b0760d36eba4314cb8aa4cae58.png)

**example code below**

```julia
Pkg.add("SortingLab") # run once
sv = [randstring(8) for i=1:Int(1e6)];
svs = radixsort(sv) # faster than sort
svsp = fsortperm(sv) .|> Int # faster than sortperm
issorted(sv[svsp])

```

My [**PR to SortingAlgorithms.jl**](https://github.com/JuliaCollections/SortingAlgorithms.jl/pull/27) has hit a little bit of a snag, hence this new package - SortingLab.jl; but I do intend to use `SortingLab.jl` as more or less a playground for new ideas. Mature ideas that work I will try to contribute back to Base or SortingAlgorithms.

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