Talk:Random access

message: Random access is the ability to access a random element of a group in equal time.
No, the equal time might (or might not) be a consequence of random access but it not the defining property.  
The opposite is sequential access
Not the opposite but an example of another access method. 
The term random access memory (RAM), however, is used for ferrite core or semiconductor chip memory circuits used in computers.
No, random access is a property of the memory that does not depend necessarily on the technology used to implement it.  It is possible to design ferite core memory etc where random access is not possible.  The term random access memory is used for memory which can be accessed randomly. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Psb777 (talk • contribs) 11:23, 24 January 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: No it's wrong!

message: Deques are bad example for constant access time as they have linear O(n) access time. Removing. 71.59.115.159 (talk) 19:38, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Most likely deques were added here because they have an implementation in C++ based on circular dynamic arrays that does allow random access. That's not usually part of the deque abstract data type though, so I agree with your edit. Dcoetzee 22:42, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removed deques 

message: While randomized quicksort indeed needs random access to pick the pivot element randomly, the partition algorithm itself does not. I therefore replaced the reference with integer sorting where direct access is essential. WillNess (talk) 12:53, 21 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Quicksort 

message: Should "random access" be hyphenated when used as compound modifier (e.g. Random-access memory)? Jojalozzo 02:23, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: You are correct, I have modified my question to address this point. Thank you. Jojalozzo 03:08, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: So are you proposing that we not follow standard English grammar?  I think it's WP style to not drop the hyphen, particularly to help the novice reader parse unfamiliar phrases.  Dicklyon (talk) 03:12, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

text: Yes, my mistake. Thank you for the correction. Jojalozzo 03:08, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreeing with people is not my strong point, but I agree with Dicklyon. For one thing his/her remark gells with my own experience and my own usage over a considerable period in this specific connection. JonRichfield (talk) 08:39, 18 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: (Responding to the RfC). Moreover, Dickylon's advice accords with the Manual of Style. I can't see any good reason to ignore it in this instance. (See also the hyphen article). Anaxial (talk) 05:49, 25 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  RFC: Hyphenate "random access" when used as compound modifier? 

message: * It depends.  Follow standard English grammar, which depends on whether the compound is used as an adjective or not.  Dicklyon (talk) 03:02, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: You are correct, I have modified my question to address this point. Thank you. Jojalozzo 03:08, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: So are you proposing that we not follow standard English grammar?  I think it's WP style to not drop the hyphen, particularly to help the novice reader parse unfamiliar phrases.  Dicklyon (talk) 03:12, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Survey

message: A discussion on renaming Parallel Random Access Machine prompted this question. I don't have a strong opinion but I think our usage should be consistent across the project. I see it unhyphenated more often than hyphenated, especially in titles, but it would be easy to change if we want to. Jojalozzo 02:29, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, my mistake. Thank you for the correction. Jojalozzo 03:08, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreeing with people is not my strong point, but I agree with Dicklyon. For one thing his/her remark gells with my own experience and my own usage over a considerable period in this specific connection. JonRichfield (talk) 08:39, 18 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: (Responding to the RfC). Moreover, Dickylon's advice accords with the Manual of Style. I can't see any good reason to ignore it in this instance. (See also the hyphen article). Anaxial (talk) 05:49, 25 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Discussion