// Using general algorithms to sort a collection of strings results in // alphanumeric sort. If it is a numeric string, it leads to unnatural sorting // eg, an array of strings 1,10,100,2,20,200,3,30,300 // would be sorted in that same order by using conventional sorting, // even though we know the correct sorting order is 1,2,3,10,20,30,100,200,300 // This Programme uses a comparator to sort the array in Numerical order instead // of Alphanumeric order #include #include #include #include bool NumericSort(std::string a, std::string b) { while (a[0] == '0') { a.erase(a.begin()); } while (b[0] == '0') { b.erase(b.begin()); } int n = a.length(); int m = b.length(); if (n == m) return a < b; return n < m; } int main() { int n; std::cout << "Enter number of elements to be sorted Numerically\n"; std::cin >> n; std::vector v(n); std::cout << "Enter the string of Numbers\n"; for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) { std::cin >> v[i]; } sort(v.begin(), v.end()); std::cout << "Elements sorted normally \n"; for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) { std::cout << v[i] << " "; } std::cout << "\n"; std::sort(v.begin(), v.end(), NumericSort); std::cout << "Elements sorted Numerically \n"; for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) { std::cout << v[i] << " "; } return 0; }