

Comparison of Four Algorithms for Selecting the N-Smallest Values - raymondh
http://code.activestate.com/recipes/577573-compare-algorithms-for-heapqsmallest/

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raymondh
TL;DR -- Maintaining a small heap wins. Quicksort-style selection loses.
Summary results appear at the end of the article.

Maintaining a small heap takes 105,714 to 106,452 comparisons.

Building a big heap takes 166,525 to 166,629 comparisons.

Quick select followed by a second pass takes 222,351 to 496,865 comparisons
(widely variable results depending on lucky or unlucky pivots).

Quick select with intermediate small concatenated sorts takes 131,171 to
217,504 comparisons.

