https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=81905
Bug ID: 81905 Summary: partial_sort slower than sort Product: gcc Version: 8.0 Status: UNCONFIRMED Keywords: missed-optimization Severity: enhancement Priority: P3 Component: libstdc++ Assignee: unassigned at gcc dot gnu.org Reporter: glisse at gcc dot gnu.org Target Milestone: --- (from https://stackoverflow.com/q/45455345/1918193 ) std::partial_sort of half an array can be slower than std::sort of the whole array, because it uses heap sort vs introsort. There may be a size threshold above which we could use a different algorithm than heap_select+sort_heap (say a variant of introsort where after partitioning (possibly with a biased pivot), depending where the pivot ends up, either we partial_sort the left and ignore the right, or we sort the left and partial_sort the right), or some other compromise.