[Tutor] Sorting algorithm?

[VanL]

Tim Peters wrote:
> 
> It's a hybrid algorithm, using binary insertion sort on "small" slices and
> samplesort on "large" slices.  samplesort is an extreme variation of
> quicksort, that reduces the asymptotic number of expected compares down to N
> * log2(N).  This makes the expected number of compares comparable to
> mergesort (close to the theoretical minimum), but samplesort requires far
> less data movement than mergesort.  Compares are expensive in Python, so
> minimizing compares is the primary goal for a Python sort.

Thanks for your informative reply.  Just two quick questions:

1. Why are compares expensive in Python?  Is this because type must be
idenitfied first? 

2. Do you know of a good page that describes the samplesort algorithm? 
A search or two on google found some notes on parallel implementation of
the algorithm, but none on the algorithm itself.

Thank you,

Van