An example for integer valued sequences. The sort is unstable. While it is not as concise as the answer provided by Mohit it is marginally faster (for the common case where k << n) by skipping elements already in their correct bins (time is asymptotically the same). In practice I prefer Mohit's sort for its tighter, simpler loop.
def sort_inplace(seq):
min_ = min(seq)
max_ = max(seq)
k = max_ - min_ + 1
stop = [0] * k
for i in seq:
stop[i - min_] += 1
for j in range(1, k):
stop[j] += stop[j - 1]
insert = [0] + stop[:k - 1]
for j in range(k):
while insert[j] < stop[j] and seq[insert[j]] == j + min_:
insert[j] += 1
tmp = None
for j in range(k):
while insert[j] < stop[j]:
tmp, seq[insert[j]] = seq[insert[j]], tmp
while tmp is not None:
bin_ = tmp - min_
tmp, seq[insert[bin_]] = seq[insert[bin_]], tmp
while insert[bin_] < stop[bin_] and seq[insert[bin_]] == bin_ + min_:
insert[bin_] += 1
With a tighter loop but still skipping already-relocated elements:
def dave_sort(seq):
min_ = min(seq)
max_ = max(seq)
k = max_ - min_ + 1
stop = [0] * k
for i in seq:
stop[i - min_] += 1
for i in range(1, k):
stop[i] += stop[i-1]
insert = [0] + stop[:k - 1]
for meh in range(0, k - 1):
i = insert[meh]
while i < stop[meh]:
bin_ = seq[i] - min_
if insert[bin_] > i:
tmp = seq[insert[bin_]]
seq[insert[bin_]] = seq[i]
seq[i] = tmp
insert[bin_] += 1
else:
i += 1
Edit: Mohit's approach in Python with extra bits to verify the effect on stability of the sort.
from collections import namedtuple
from random import randrange
KV = namedtuple("KV", "k v")
def mohit_sort(seq, key):
f = lambda v: getattr(v, key)
keys = map(f, seq)
min_ = min(keys)
max_ = max(keys)
k = max_ - min_ + 1
insert = [0] * k
for i in keys:
insert[i - min_] += 1
insert[0] -= 1
for i in range(1, k):
insert[i] += insert[i-1]
i = 0
n = len(seq)
while i < n:
bin_ = f(seq[i])
if insert[bin_] > i:
seq[i], seq[insert[bin_]] = seq[insert[bin_]], seq[i]
i -= 1
insert[bin_] -= 1
i += 1
def test(n, k):
seq = []
vals = [0] * k
for _ in range(n):
key = randrange(k)
seq.append(KV(key, vals[key]))
vals[key] += 1
print(seq)
mohit_sort(seq, "k")
print(seq)
if __name__ == "__main__":
test(20, 3)