What is Radix Sort? How does it handle strings?

Difficulty: 5/10

non-comparative sorting, string keys, stable counting sort

Radix Sort

Radix Sort sorts keys digit by digit or character by character using a stable intermediate sorting algorithm, commonly Counting Sort. For fixed-length strings, it can process characters from the least significant position to the most significant position using LSD radix sort, or use an MSD variant that partitions from the first character.

javascript

1
Requires a defined character ordering.
2
Stable intermediate sorting is required for LSD radix sort.
3
For fixed-length keys, complexity can approach O(d(n+k)).
4
String handling depends on alphabet size and encoding.
5
MSD radix sorting is useful for variable-length strings and prefix-oriented processing.

Scenario Questions

0-2 years experience

2-5 years experience

1We have a feature that sorts user‑generated tags (variable length strings) in real time. We tried radix sort but observed occasional crashes when a tag contains non‑ASCII characters. How would you debug and fix this?

Follow-up Questions