Lexicographic Order
Lexicographic ordering is similar to an alphabetical ordering.
Formally, two n-tuples
and
are ordered lexicographically
if there exists a nonnegative
such that
and
.  When comparing
two tuples of different length, you append the shorter tuple with
zeroes (or the characters with lowest comparison value in your alphabet).
Example
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2000
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. All Rights Reserved.