Is it possible to sort 3 GB of java on 32 bit system using JAVA

Question

I have been learning few basic memory related concepts.

Let's say if I have more then 3 GB data to sort, then is it possible to sort it on 32 bit system or 32 bit JVM.

This Heap has to completely reside in RAM or it can reside in hard disk as well?

Answer 1

You can definitely sort more than 3GB of data in a 32-bits system.

The trick is to choose a sort algorithm that doesn't need to allocate the entire array in memory at the same time. One way to achieve this is by using something like Bucket Sort, External Merge sort, or a divide-and-conquer sort algorithm that doesn't require loading the whole data set in memory at once.

In general, divide-and-conquer algorithms work by splitting the original data (say that you have 40 GB of data) into smaller segments (e.g. 1 GB each), sort each segment individually and then merge these segments until the data is completely sorted.

Check this post for a links to similar sort algorithms.