Note 1: <i>Comparison</i> sorting is O(n log (n)).<p>In domains where the range of values is smaller than the number of elements (so there are duplicate values), sorting can be faster.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Radix_sort" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Radix_sort</a><p>Note 2: for aribtrarily large sticks, is &quot;lowering a sticky horizontal plate&quot; a constant-cost operation? Or is it a factor of K (difference between largest and shortest object)?