apache / apache/datafusion

Use Row Format in SortExec

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#7,053 5 comments 0 reactions 1 assignee Claimed by @Lordworms View on GitHub
enhancement
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

### Is your feature request related to a problem or challenge?

Currently `SortExec::sort_batch_stream` uses `lexsort_to_indices` to sort the produced `RecordBatch`. For multi-column sorts this makes use of `LexicographicalComparator`. The branching and dynamic dispatch involved in this comparator is relatively expensive. Converting to the row format first, and comparing these rows has been found to offer significant performance advantages in similar applications - https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/pull/3386.

### Describe the solution you'd like

SortExec should:

* If single sort column, use `sort_to_indices` to sort the input batches
* If multiple columns, convert to the row format and sort using this representation
* If performing a subsequent merge, preserve the row encoding to avoid redundant work

### Describe alternatives you've considered

_No response_

### Additional context

This is likely not a good first issue, and I do not recommend people pick it up, creating primarily for tracking purposes. I will likely pick it up at some point in the near-ish future.

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