Sort

Sorting puts a sequence in order, smallest first. It is the first job of the Algorithms package, the standard package this part tours: a set of generic functions that work on slices of any element type. Sort rearranges the elements in place — where they already are, with nothing copied and nothing allocated — so the array itself comes out in order.

Like every standard package, Algorithms is a dependency you name in Rux.toml, next to Io:

[Dependencies]
Algorithms = { Namespace = "Rux", Version = "*" }

Sorting needs a writable view

In place means Sort writes into your array, so it asks for the kind of slice that may write: var T[..], from Writable slice.

var numbers: int[7] = [5, -8, 3, -1, 6, 0, -4];
Show("start       ", numbers);

Sort(numbers[..]);
Show("sorted      ", numbers);

numbers[..] is a writable view of the whole array. Plain numbers would not do: an array turns into a slice on its own, but only into a read-only one, and a sort through a read-only view could not move anything. Show takes int[..] because it only reads, so plain numbers is fine there.

Because Sort takes a slice, not an array, one function serves every length, any part of an array, and the contents of a Vector, whose AsMutableSlice hands out the same kind of writable view.

Three ways to order

Sort uses the element's own <, so the result runs from smallest to largest. SortDescending turns that round:

SortDescending(numbers[..]);
Show("descending  ", numbers);

When the order you want is not the type's own, SortBy takes it as a function. Given two elements, the function answers with an Ordering — Less, Equal or Greater — the same three answers Comparable introduced. This one orders numbers by their distance from zero, whatever the sign:

func ByMagnitude(left: int, right: int) -> Ordering {
    if Magnitude(left) < Magnitude(right) {
        return Ordering::Less;
    }
    if Magnitude(right) < Magnitude(left) {
        return Ordering::Greater;
    }
    return Ordering::Equal;
}

The function is passed by name, the way Callback passed one — not called:

SortBy(numbers[..], ByMagnitude);

flowchart LR
    s["SortBy(numbers[..], ByMagnitude)"] --> pick["picks a pair,<br/>such as 6 and -8"]
    pick --> ask["asks ByMagnitude(6, -8)"]
    ask --> ans{"the answer"}
    ans -- "Less" --> a["6 belongs first"]
    ans -- "Greater" --> b["-8 belongs first"]
    ans -- "Equal" --> c["either order will do"]

SortBy repeats that with other pairs until the slice is in order. It decides which pairs to ask about and how often; your function only ever answers for one pair. Ordering lives in Core, which is why the lesson imports Core::Ordering and lists Core as a dependency.

Sorting part of an array

A range picks out part of the array, and only that part is sorted:

var part: int[7] = [9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 8, 6];
Sort(part[1..6]);
Show("middle only ", part);

1..6 covers indexes 1 to 5. The 9 at index 0 and the 6 at index 6 are outside the view, so they stay exactly where they were, and the output reads 9 1 3 5 7 8 6.

Equal elements may swap

Sort and SortBy are not stable: elements the order calls equal may come out in either order. With ByMagnitude, -1 and 1 are equal, so a slice holding both may put either one first. The sort is deterministic — the same input gives the same output every time — but it promises nothing about ties.

Usually that does not matter. When it does — sort a table by one column, then by another, and you want the first order kept within each group — StableSort and StableSortBy keep equal elements in the order they arrived. The price is storage: they ask you for a scratch slice as long as the one being sorted, because the Algorithms package never allocates memory on its own.

The program

The whole lesson is one package in the Examples repository. Its comments explain every step.

// Sorting puts a sequence in order, smallest first. `Sort`, from the Algorithms package, sorts in
// place: it rearranges the elements where they already are instead of building a sorted copy, so
// nothing is allocated and the array itself comes out in order.
//
// That is why it asks for a writable slice, `var T[..]`, the kind the WritableSlice lesson
// introduced. Because it takes a slice rather than an array, the same function sorts an array of
// any length, a part of one, or the contents of a vector.
//
// `Sort` uses the element's own `<`. `SortBy` takes the order as a function instead: given two
// elements it answers `Less`, `Equal` or `Greater`, the `Ordering` from the Comparable lesson.
// Neither sort is stable, so elements the order calls equal may end up in either order.
import Algorithms::{ Sort, SortBy, SortDescending };
import Core::Ordering;
import Io::{ Print, PrintLine };

func Show(label: char8[..], items: int[..]) {
    Print("{}", label);
    for item in items {
        Print(" {}", item);
    }
    PrintLine();
}

func Magnitude(value: int) -> int {
    return value < 0 ? -value : value;
}

// A custom order: closest to zero first, whatever the sign.
func ByMagnitude(left: int, right: int) -> Ordering {
    if Magnitude(left) < Magnitude(right) {
        return Ordering::Less;
    }
    if Magnitude(right) < Magnitude(left) {
        return Ordering::Greater;
    }
    return Ordering::Equal;
}

func Main() -> int {
    var numbers: int[7] = [5, -8, 3, -1, 6, 0, -4];
    Show("start       ", numbers);

    // `numbers[..]` asks for a writable view of the whole array. Writing just `Sort(numbers)` is
    // rejected: an array becomes a slice on its own, but only a read-only one.
    Sort(numbers[..]);
    Show("sorted      ", numbers);

    SortDescending(numbers[..]);
    Show("descending  ", numbers);

    // The function is passed by name, not called. `SortBy` calls it whenever it compares a pair.
    SortBy(numbers[..], ByMagnitude);
    Show("by magnitude", numbers);

    // A range sorts just that part. The two ends are left where they were.
    var part: int[7] = [9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 8, 6];
    Sort(part[1..6]);
    Show("middle only ", part);
    return 0;
}

Besides Io, its Rux.toml lists Algorithms and Core under [Dependencies].

Run it

cd Examples/Algorithms/Sort
rux run

start        5 -8 3 -1 6 0 -4
sorted       -8 -4 -1 0 3 5 6
descending   6 5 3 0 -1 -4 -8
by magnitude 0 -1 3 -4 5 6 -8
middle only  9 1 3 5 7 8 6

Common mistakes

Try it yourself

1. Sort an array of float64 values, and then an array of char8 letters. Nothing about Sort changes.
2. Sort only the first three elements of numbers with numbers[..3], and predict the output before you run it.
3. Write an order function ByLastDigit for non-negative numbers that compares value % 10, and sort [42, 17, 5, 30, 21] with it.
4. Sort [3, -1, -3, 1, 2, -2] with SortBy and ByMagnitude. Then sort it with StableSortBy(mixed[..], scratch[..], ByMagnitude), where scratch is a var int[6], and check that each pair of equals keeps its original order.

Learn more

• Slicing and Function types in the Rux Reference
• Writable slice — the var T[..] view a sort writes through
• Comparable — Ordering, and giving your own types an order
• Binary search — what sorted data lets you do quickly