Re: [boost] Any interest in a sorting library with a multitude of sorts?

From: Giovanni Piero Deretta (gpderetta_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-03-13 12:01:52

On 3/13/07, Paul Giaccone <paulg_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> Sam Schetterer wrote:
> > This sorting library would have quicksorts, radix quicksorts,
> > radixsorts, mergsorts, a sorted-array class, and an interface class to
> > be inherited from to allow sorting.
>
> Most users, on finding they need to sort data, use something someone
> else has already written, such as the sort functions available in the
> STL. What could your library offer that this does not?
> [...]
> A wish-list of ideas:
>
> * Sorting into reverse order or forwards order
> * Allowing the user to choose the "less-than" operator (as the STL sorts
> already do)
> * A "sort by" function:
>
>     class X
>     {
>         std::string name;
>         int age;
>         float height;
>     }
>
>     X array[10];
>
>     //set members of elements of arrays here...
>
>     sort_by(array, age);   //sorts the array by age
>
>     //then, later on
>     sort_by(array, height);

Aren't all of these trivial applications of bind?

>
> * A "sort within sort" function:
>
>     sort_by(array, name, age);   //sort array by name, and then sort
> within name by age
>

Isn't sort + stable sort enough?

Do we really need specialized interfaces for these?

gpd