Sorting a string array length wise

Question

I am required to sort an array with selection sort. I wanted it to to sort a string array in increasing order of length of its specific string elements.

It doesn't give the required output.

String[] a = sc.nextLine().trim().split(" ");
for (int i = 0;i< a.length-1;i++) {
    String min = a[i];
    for (int j = i + 1; j < a.length; j++) {
        if (a[j].length() < min.length()) min = a[j];
    }
    String t = a[i];
    a[i] = min;
    min = t;
}

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I tried to observe the array elements by using System.out.println(Arrays.toString(a));

Here's what i got and what i want:

On inputting,

Hello Java Its me

Observed Output

me me me me

Expected Output

me Its Java Hello

that is according to the length of a's string elements.

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Answer 1

You didn't correctly swap. You need to save the index of min element and swap a[i] and a[minIdx].

        String[] a = sc.nextLine().trim().split(" ");
        for (int i = 0;i< a.length-1;i++) {
            String min = a[i];
            int minIdx = i; // <-- remember min index
            for (int j = i + 1; j < a.length; j++) {
                if (a[j].length() < min.length()) {
                    min = a[j];
                    minIdx = j; // <-- update min index
                }
            }
            String t = a[i];
            a[i] = min;
            a[minIdx] = t; // <-- proper swap
        }