(algorithm)
Definition: An algorithm that is efficient when accessing most of the data is very slow, such as, on disk.
See also external sort, external memory data structure.
Note: See [Vitt01]. The external memory could be magnetic tape or even main memory if the cache is very fast.
Author: PEB
If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.
Entry modified 17 December 2004.
HTML page formatted Mon Feb 2 13:10:39 2015.
Cite this as:
Paul E. Black, "external memory algorithm", in
Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 17 December 2004. (accessed TODAY)
Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/externalMemoryAlgo.html