the invention relates to an o recursive , comparison based sorting algorithm that uses multiple pivots to effectively partition a list of records into smaller partitions until the list is sorted . the algorithm is intended for use in software . this sorting method is accomplished by choosing pivot candidates from strategic locations in the list of records , moving those candidates to a section of the list of records and sorting this small list . then , the invention selects pivots from the pivot candidates and partitions the list of records around the pivots . multiple pivot sort may be viewed as the next generation of quick sort , and average sorting times on unique random integer lists have beaten times by established algorithms like quick sort , merge sort , heap sort , and even radix sort .