K-way merge algorithm
type of merge algorithm
In computer science, k-way merge algorithms or multiway merges are a specific type of sequence merge algorithms that specialize in taking in k sorted lists and merging them into a single sorted list. These merge algorithms generally refer to merge algorithms that take in a number of sorted lists greater than two. Two-way merges are also referred to as binary merges. The k-way merge is also an external sorting algorithm.
Two-way merge
A 2-way merge, or a binary merge, has been studied extensively due to its key role in merge sort. An example of such is the classic merge that appears frequently in merge sort examples. The classic merge outputs the data item with the lowest key at each step; given some sorted lists, it produces a sorted list containing all the elements in any of the input lists, and it does so in time proportional to the sum of the lengths of the input lists.
Denote by A[1..p] and B[1..q] two arrays sorted in increasing order.
Further, denote by C[1..n] the output array.
The canonical 2-way merge algorithm stores indices i, j, and k into A, B, and C respectively.
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