Reference
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STL Containers
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list::list
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member functions:
list::assign
list::back
list::begin
list::clear
list::empty
list::end
list::erase
list::front
list::get_allocator
list::insert
list::max_size
list::merge
list::operator=
list::pop_back
list::pop_front
list::push_back
list::push_front
list::rbegin
list::remove
list::remove_if
list::rend
list::resize
list::reverse
list::size
list::sort
list::splice
list::swap
list::unique


list::sort

public member function
  void sort ( );
template <class Compare>
  void sort ( Compare comp );

Sort elements in container

Sorts the elements in the container from lower to higher. The sorting is performed by comparing the elements in the container in pairs using a sorting algorithm.

In the first version, taking no parameters, the comparisons are performed using the operator< between the elements being compared.

In the second version, the comparisons are perfomed using function comp, which performs weak strict ordering (this basically means the comparison operation has to be transitive and irreflexive).

The entire operation does not involve the construction or destruction of any element object.

Parameters

comp
Comparison function that, taking two values of the same type of those contained in the list object, returns true if the first argument goes before the second argument in the specific order (i.e., if the first is less than the second), and false otherwise.

Return value

none

Example

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// list::sort
#include <iostream>
#include <list>
#include <string>
#include <cctype>
using namespace std;
// comparison, not case sensitive.
bool compare_nocase (string first, string second)
{
  unsigned int i=0;
  while ( (i<first.length()) && (i<second.length()) )
  {
    if (tolower(first[i])<tolower(second[i])) return true;
    else if (tolower(first[i])>tolower(second[i])) return false;
    ++i;
  }
  if (first.length()<second.length()) return true;
  else return false;
}
int main ()
{
  list<string> mylist;
  list<string>::iterator it;
  mylist.push_back ("one");
  mylist.push_back ("two");
  mylist.push_back ("Three");
  mylist.sort();
  cout << "mylist contains:";
  for (it=mylist.begin(); it!=mylist.end(); ++it)
    cout << " " << *it;
  cout << endl;
  mylist.sort(compare_nocase);
  cout << "mylist contains:";
  for (it=mylist.begin(); it!=mylist.end(); ++it)
    cout << " " << *it;
  cout << endl;
  return 0;
}


Output:
mylist contains: Three one two
mylist contains: one Three two
For default strings, the comparison is a strict character code comparison, where all uppercase letters compare lower than all lowercase letters, putting all strings beginning by an uppercase letter before in the first sorting operation.

Using the function compare_nocase the comparison is made case insensitive.

Complexity

Approximately NlogN where N is the list size.

See also