Current Practice in The Evaluation of Multikey Search Algorithms

File structures and algorithms for multikey searching allow more than a single key to be used in locating a record for use in retrieval or update. Such algorithms are of use in many different kinds of information systems, including database systems, information retrieval systems, and pattern recognition and image processing systems. Such algorithms have received increased attention in recent years. However, they are not as well understood as those which handle single keys.Multikey algorithms are more difficult to evaluate than those based on the use of single keys. There are simply more factors to be considered. The evaluations performed for such algorithms should allow comparisons in order to be useful to a community of researchers and users. Theoretical analyses should be based on reasonable and clearly stated assumptions. Experiments should be repeatable and statistically valid whether they are based on "real" data or on randomly generated data.