std::sort

From cppreference.com
< cpp‎ | algorithm
 
 
 
Defined in header <algorithm>
template< class RandomIt >
void sort( RandomIt first, RandomIt last );
(1)
template< class RandomIt, class Compare >
void sort( RandomIt first, RandomIt last, Compare comp );
(2)

Sorts the elements in the range [first, last) in ascending order. The order of equal elements is not guaranteed to be preserved. The first version uses operator< to compare the elements, the second version uses the given comparison function object comp.

Contents

[edit] Parameters

first, last - the range of elements to sort
comp - comparison function object (i.e. an object that satisfies the requirements of Compare) which returns ​true if the first argument is less than (i.e. is ordered before) the second.

The signature of the comparison function should be equivalent to the following:

 bool cmp(const Type1 &a, const Type2 &b);

The signature does not need to have const &, but the function object must not modify the objects passed to it.
The types Type1 and Type2 must be such that an object of type RandomIt can be dereferenced and then implicitly converted to both of them. ​

Type requirements
-
RandomIt must meet the requirements of ValueSwappable and RandomAccessIterator.
-
The type of dereferenced RandomIt must meet the requirements of MoveAssignable and MoveConstructible.
-
Compare must meet the requirements of Compare.

[edit] Return value

(none)

[edit] Complexity

O(N·log(N)), where N = std::distance(first, last) comparisons on average.

(until C++11)

O(N·log(N)), where N = std::distance(first, last) comparisons.

(since C++11)

[edit] Example

#include <algorithm>
#include <functional>
#include <array>
#include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
    std::array<int, 10> s = {5, 7, 4, 2, 8, 6, 1, 9, 0, 3}; 
 
    // sort using the default operator<
    std::sort(s.begin(), s.end());
    for (int a : s) {
        std::cout << a << " ";
    }   
    std::cout << '\n';
 
    // sort using a standard library compare function object
    std::sort(s.begin(), s.end(), std::greater<int>());
    for (int a : s) {
        std::cout << a << " ";
    }   
    std::cout << '\n';
 
    // sort using a custom function object
    struct {
        bool operator()(int a, int b)
        {   
            return a < b;
        }   
    } customLess;
    std::sort(s.begin(), s.end(), customLess);
    for (int a : s) {
        std::cout << a << " ";
    }   
    std::cout << '\n';
 
    // sort using a lambda expression 
    std::sort(s.begin(), s.end(), [](int a, int b) {
        return b < a;   
    });
    for (int a : s) {
        std::cout << a << " ";
    } 
    std::cout << '\n';
}

Output:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

[edit] See also

sorts the first N elements of a range
(function template)
sorts a range of elements while preserving order between equal elements
(function template)