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arrayssortingpseudocode

How can I sort an array that is already sorted by a secondary criteria?

Suppose I have an array of objects. Each object contains and integer and a string.

These objects have been sorted so that they are in alphabetical order, and no two objects contain the same string.

I want to sort the array so that they are in order from lowest to highest integer, and for objects with the same integer I want to sort tem in alphabetical order

For example I start with:

[1 "ab"],[2 "bc"],[1 "cd"],[3 "de"],[2 "ef"]

and it should be sorted to:

[1 "ab"],[1 "cd"],[2 "bc"],[2 "ef"],[3 "de"]

Is there a faster way than just sorting with language built in comparator sort functions? (where I provide a comparison function)

Solution

  • There could be, but
    I think comparison function is much better than anything

    bool comp(obj a, obj b)
{
    if(a.num==b.num)return a.str < b.str;
    return a.num<b.num;
}

    call to comp function sort(arr, arr+size, comp)