Implementing qsort in Fortran 95 - algorithm

Question

I am trying to implement qsort algorithm in Fortran.
The implemented qsort is intended to operate over an array of a derived type which contains also another derived type.
The derived types are defined in a separate module as:
MODULE DATA_MODEL
! -------------------
! CONSTANTS
! -------------------
integer,parameter :: max_records = 100000000
type :: timestamp
integer :: year
integer :: month
integer :: day
integer :: hour
integer :: minute
integer :: second
end type
type :: tape
type(timestamp) :: ts
integer :: value1
integer :: value2
end type
END MODULE
This is what I have tried to implement the quicksort algorithm.
! DESCRIPTION:
! THIS MODULE IMPLEMENTS QSORT ALGORITH USING LOMUTO PARTITION SCHEME
! PSEUDOCODE:
! ALGORITHM QUICKSORT(A, LO, HI) IS
! IF LO < HI THEN
! P := PARTITION(A, LO, HI)
! QUICKSORT(A, LO, P - 1)
! QUICKSORT(A, P + 1, HI)
!
! ALGORITHM PARTITION(A, LO, HI) IS
! PIVOT := A[HI]
! I := LO
! FOR J := LO TO HI DO
! IF A[J] < PIVOT THEN
! SWAP A[I] WITH A[J]
! I := I + 1
! SWAP A[I] WITH A[HI]
! RETURN I
!
! SORTING THE ENTIRE ARRAY IS ACCOMPLOMISHED BY QUICKSORT(A, 0, LENGTH(A) - 1).
module qsort
use data_model
contains
subroutine quicksort(a, lo, hi)
implicit none
! SUBROUTINE PARAMETERS
type(tape),allocatable,intent(in out) :: a
integer,intent(in) :: lo, hi
! ALGORITHM INTERNAL VARIABLES
integer :: p
if (lo < hi) then
call partition(a, lo, hi, p)
call quicksort(a, lo, p - 1)
call quicksort(a, p + 1, hi)
end if
end subroutine
subroutine partition(a, lo, hi, p)
implicit none
! SUBROUTINE PARAMETERS
type(tape),allocatable,intent(inout) :: a
integer,intent(in) :: lo
integer,intent(in) :: hi
integer,intent(out) :: p
! ALGORITHM INTERNAL VARIABLES
type(tape) :: pivot
type(tape) :: swap
integer :: i,j
pivot = a(hi)
i = lo
do j = lo, hi
if (compare(a(j), pivot)) then
swap = a(i)
a(i) = a(j)
a(j) = swap
i = i + 1
endif
end do
swap = a(i)
a(i) = a(hi)
a(hi) = swap
p = i
end subroutine
function compare(a,b)
implicit none
! FUNCTION PARAMETERS
type(tape) :: a
type(tape) :: b
logical :: compare
if (a%ts%year < b%ts%year) then
compare = .true.
else if (a%ts%year > a%ts%year) then
compare = .false.
else if (a%ts%month < b%ts%month) then
compare = .true.
else if (a%ts%month > b%ts%month) then
compare = .false.
else if (a%ts%day < b%ts%day) then
compare = .true.
else if (a%ts%day > b%ts%day) then
compare = .false.
else if (a%ts%hour < b%ts%hour) then
compare = .true.
else if (a%ts%hour > b%ts%hour) then
compare = .false.
else if (a%ts%minute < b%ts%minute) then
compare = .true.
else if (a%ts%minute > b%ts%minute) then
compare = .false.
else if (a%ts%second < b%ts%second) then
compare = .true.
else if (a%ts%second > b%ts%second) then
compare = .false.
else
compare = .false.
end if
end function
end module
This is the errors I get while trying to compile it:
$ flang -c data_model.f95
$ flang -c qsort.f95
F90-S-0072-Assignment operation illegal to external procedure a (qsort.f95: 79)
F90-S-0076-Subscripts specified for non-array variable a (qsort.f95: 80)
F90-S-0076-Subscripts specified for non-array variable a (qsort.f95: 84)
F90-S-0076-Subscripts specified for non-array variable a (qsort.f95: 85)
F90-S-0076-Subscripts specified for non-array variable a (qsort.f95: 85)
F90-S-0076-Subscripts specified for non-array variable a (qsort.f95: 86)
0 inform, 0 warnings, 6 severes, 0 fatal for partition
$
Edit 1: I have modified the source code with the subroutine based code, which makes more sense as we want to modify the arguments.
Edit 2: modifying the definition of a to type(tape),intent(in out) :: a(:) in both quicksort and partition subroutines make the module to compile without errors – see comments.

Answer 1

I saw that you got unblocked with your problem with the help of the comments, but let me give you some suggestions to make your implementation more modular, easy to use and modern.
Disclaimer: Some of my suggestions might need a more recent Fortran version than 95.
You can improve your timestamp type definition by providing overloads for the relational operators.
type :: timestamp
integer :: year, month, day, hour = 0, minute = 0, second = 0
contains
procedure, private :: eq, ne, gt, ge, lt, le
generic :: operator(==) => eq
generic :: operator(/=) => ne
generic :: operator(>) => gt
generic :: operator(>=) => ge
generic :: operator(<) => lt
generic :: operator(<=) => le
end type
(A subtle change there is that I have default values for hour, minute and second. So you can instantiate like this: timestamp(2021,5,22))
To get this working, you just need to provide implementations for the functions eq, ne, gt, ge, lt, le available in the module you define your type. Note that, when writing a generic type bound procedure, you must declare your bound parameter as class(timestamp) instead of type(timestamp).
elemental function lt(left, right) result(result)
class(timestamp), intent(in) :: left, right
logical :: result
result = compare(left, right) < 0
end function
elemental function compare(this, other) result(result)
class(timestamp), intent(in) :: this, other
integer :: result
if (this%year /= other%year) then
result = sign(1, this%year - other%year)
else if (this%month /= other%month) then
result = sign(1, this%month - other%month)
else if (this%day /= other%day) then
result = sign(1, this%day - other%day)
else if (this%hour /= other%hour) then
result = sign(1, this%hour - other%hour)
else if (this%minute /= other%minute) then
result = sign(1, this%minute - other%minute)
else if (this%second /= other%second) then
result = sign(1, this%second - other%second)
else
result = 0
end if
end function
Another good practice you can implement is to control access of your module elements by using public and private.
module data_model
implicit none
public :: timestamp, tape
private
type :: timestamp
! (...)
end type
type :: tape
type(timestamp) :: ts
integer :: value1, value2
end type
contains
! (...) implementations of eq, ne, gt, ge, lt, le
end
Then, when you use this module from another program unit, only the public names will be available. You can also use only specific name with the use only clause:
module qsort
use data_model, only: tape
implicit none
public :: quicksort
private
contains
! (...) your quicksort implementation
end
Finally, let me suggest some tweaks on your quicksort implementation.
First, I suggest that you don't need to pass around the boundaries lo and hi everywhere together with your array. One of the most distinctive features of Fortran is how easy it is to operate on array segments. You can call the quicksort procedure on a contiguous portion of your array, and the procedure can work on it in a boundaries-agnostic way, if you use assumed-shape arrays, like this: type(tape) :: a(:). Inside the procedure, the array segment is rebounded to start on index 1, no matter what are the bounds on the call site.
Besides that, as I mentioned in the comments, you don't need to declare the array argument as allocatable in this case. Even if the original array you are passing is originally allocatable, you can pass an allocatable array to a procedure without declaring the argument as allocatable in the procedure, it will be handled as a normal array. It only makes sense to declare the argument as allocatable if you plan to allocate/deallocate inside the procedure.
pure recursive subroutine quicksort(a)
type(tape), intent(inout) :: a(:)
integer :: p
if (size(a) == 0) return
call partition(a, p)
call quicksort(a(:p-1))
call quicksort(a(p+1:))
end
I declared this procedure as pure in this case, but that would depend on your specific use case. Making it pure helps me to remind declaring intents correctly and have well-though procedures (and there is a performance gain in some cases), but this brings many restrictions (like not being able to print inside the procedure). You can search for pure procedures to learn more.
Both quicksort and partition are implemented as subroutines here. I like to do this way always that the procedure performs important side-effects, like updates on the passed argument. If I need a returned value, I can have an intent(out) argument, like the argument out in partition, that returns the pivot position.
pure subroutine partition(a, out)
type(tape), intent(inout) :: a(:)
integer, intent(out) :: out
integer :: i, j
i = 1
do j = 1, size(a)
if (a(j)%ts < a(size(a))%ts) then
call swap(a(i), a(j))
i = i + 1
end if
end do
call swap(a(i), a(size(a)))
out = i
end
elemental subroutine swap(a, b)
type(tape), intent(inout) :: a, b
type(tape) :: temp
temp = a
a = b
b = temp
end
You may note at a(j)%ts < a(size(a))%ts that I am making use of the overloaded operator < to compare two timestamp. This way, the comparison logic belongs to the same module as the type definition.
Finally, you can use the modules and make some tests on your quicksort implementation!
program main
use data_model, only: tape, timestamp
use qsort, only: quicksort
implicit none
type(tape) :: a(8) = [ &
tape(timestamp(2020, 01, 08), 0, 0), &
tape(timestamp(2021, 01, 30), 0, 0), &
tape(timestamp(2020, 01, 06), 0, 0), &
tape(timestamp(2019, 12, 14), 0, 0), &
tape(timestamp(2020, 01, 08), 0, 0), &
tape(timestamp(2020, 05, 05), 0, 0), &
tape(timestamp(2021, 04, 30), 0, 0), &
tape(timestamp(2020, 10, 22), 0, 0) &
]
call quicksort(a(3:7)) ! will sort in place, only from index 3 to 7
call quicksort(a) ! will sort whole array
end
Works like a charm!

Answer 2

This is not an answer directly related to the quicksort algorithm but rather on how to implement type-bound operators.
You can move the compare function inside the data_model module.
This decouples the modules further s.t. the quicksort module only contains the quicksort algorithm.
The compare function can be implemented by a type-bound operator operator(<).
The following shows a quick implementation (only for year/month/day) and it should help you to edit your own code accordingly.
module timestamp_m
implicit none
private
public timestamp
type timestamp
integer :: y, m, d
contains
generic :: operator(<) => timestamp_lt
procedure, private :: timestamp_lt
end type
contains
logical function timestamp_lt(this, rhs) result(tf)
!! result of: this < rhs
class(timestamp), intent(in) :: this
type(timestamp), intent(in) :: rhs
! compare year
if (this%y < rhs%y) then
tf = .true.
else if (this%y > rhs%y) then
tf = .false.
else
! compare month
if (this%m < rhs%m) then
tf = .true.
else if (this%m > rhs%m) then
tf = .false.
else
! compare day
if (this%d < rhs%d) then
tf = .true.
else
tf = .false.
end if
end if
end if
end function
end module
You will need to adjust one line in your quicksort module:
module qsort
..
subroutine quicksort(a, lo, hi)
..
! if (compare(a(j), pivot)) then ! OLD. replace by:
if (a(j)%ts < pivot%ts) then
..