!!Con 2016 - Sorting is as easy as 1, 2, 3 --- but not as easy as a, b, c! By Jake Levine
7Sorting is as easy as 1, 2, 3 --- but not as easy as a, b, c! By Jake Levine
The task of sorting a list of strings alphabetically can sound trivial, but in fact it's very tricky! We discovered this the hard way when attempting to alphabetically sort a list of names in Japanese. The Japanese written language employs four different alphabets, and an ordering often based on pronunciation. When multiple alphabets are at play, how do computers know what the right ordering should be? And then what happens to the sorting when pronunciations of words change depending on their context? We will discuss how using a Collator can solve some of these problems, and what else you can do in order to address the rest of them. Be prepared for your assumptions about text and language to be challenged!
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