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126

answers:

2

Is there a specific reason why Java does not have an in-built external sort algorithm implemented ?

+1  A: 

I don't think any modern language has external sorting built-in. Usually, it's just not part of the scope of a programming language. Also, think of embedded (or specialized) devices that have limited (or no) external memory, only RAM. Language features such as external sorting would be purposeless.

David Titarenco
Well, so would be file IO in general on those devices, that point isn't very convincing ;-). But agreed that it is well out of scope for a general programming framework.
Joey
I don't think any language *ever* has external sorting built-in.
Chris
@Chris SQL has external sort built in - which is another reason java doesn't need it.
emory
+1  A: 

Because the JDK contains only the mostly used components.

It is the same thing with any external framework content. Why isn't it directly built-in ?

Simply because it doesn't need to be built-in. And because it's not developed by the same people.

But still you can use an external framework, or a library which will help you with that.


Resources :

Colin Hebert
Quick question: how do you differentiate between what does into part of a framework and what goes into libraries
rakeshr
You can check this out : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/724438/what-is-the-difference-between-a-class-library-and-a-framework
Colin Hebert