Guided Merge Sort : An Optimized Sorting that Picks the Best from Ordinary and Multi-Way Merge Sort Algorithms

A novel sorting algorithm called guided K-merge sort is presented, based on a new procedure for merging multiple sorted sequences. This guided K-merge approach uniquely uses isomorphic code fragments and the goto operator to manage the merge process, avoiding helper data structures like priority queues. This method is designed to reduce the time complexity of a multi-way merge without introducing the overhead seen in other implementations. Practical evaluations suggest that the guided K-merge sort can perform up to 15% faster than the standard merge sort algorithm, depending on the data being processed.