How to sort an array in Swift - swift

Question

I want the Swift version of this code:
NSArray *sortedNames = [names sortedArrayUsingSelector:#selector(localizedCaseInsensitiveCompare:)];

Answer 1

var names = [ "Alpha", "alpha", "bravo"]
var sortedNames = names.sorted { $0.localizedCaseInsensitiveCompare($1) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedAscending }
Update: Providing explanation as per recommendation of a fellow SO user.
Unlike ObjC, in Swift you have sorted() (and sort()) method that takes a closure that you supply that returns a Boolean value to indicate whether one element should be before (true) or after (false) another element. The $0 and $1 are the elements to compare. I used the localizedCaseInsensitiveCompare to get the result you are looking for. Now, localizedCaseInsensitiveCompare returns the type of ordering, so I needed to modify it to return the appropriate bool value.
Update for Swift 2:
sorted and sort were replaced by sort and sortInPlace

Answer 2

Sorting an Array in Swift
Define a initial names array:
var names = [ "gamma", "Alpha", "alpha", "bravo"]
Method 1:
var sortedNames = sorted(names, {$0 < $1})
// sortedNames becomes "[Alpha, alpha, bravo, gamma]"
This can be further simplified to:
var sortedNames = sorted(names, <)
// ["Alpha", "alpha", "bravo", "gamma"]
var reverseSorted = sorted(names, >)
// ["gamma", "bravo", "alpha", "Alpha"]
Method 2:
names.sort(){$0 < $1}
// names become sorted as this --> "[Alpha, alpha, bravo, gamma]"

Answer 3

If your array does not contain Custom Objects (just a string or number type):
var sortedNames = sorted(names, <)
Otherwise if you create a Custom Data Object Class containing custom properties inside:
customDataObjectArray.sort({ $0.customProperty < $1.customProperty })

Answer 4

Most efficient way of sorting in SWIFT
The use of Operator Overloading is the most efficient way to sort Strings in Swift language.
// OPERATOR OVERLOADING
let names = ["Chris", "Alex", "Ewa", "Barry", "Daniella"]
var sortedNames = sorted(names, <)
var reverseOrder = sorted(names, >)
In above code > and < operators are overloaded in Swift to sort Strings.
I have test the code in Playground and conclude that when we use operator overloading it is best for sorting Strings.
Copy below to Playground.
let names = ["Chris", "Alex", "Ewa", "Barry", "Daniella"]
var reversed = sorted (names,
// This is a closure
{ (s1 : String, s2 : String) -> Bool in
return s1 > s2
}
)
println(reversed)
var reverseOrder = sorted(names, {s1, s2 in s1 > s2})
var reverseOrder2 = sorted(names, { $0 > $1} )
// OPERATOR OVERLOADING
var reverseOrder3 = sorted(names, >)
The conclusion from Playground:
From above image you can see that all other ways needs to enumerate loops for sorting 5 strings. Where as when we use Operator overloading it does not required to enumerate loop to sort strings.
Referenced from Swift documentation

Answer 5

If you want to sort your array in ascending order then use below syntax:
var arrayName = sorted(arrayName, <)
as the sorted() is the predefined function in swift and < is used to indicate that the array should be sorted in ascending order. If you want to sort the array in descending order then simply replace < with > as I have shown below:
var arrayName = sorted(arrayName, >)

Answer 6

You can usually use the built-in
func sort<T : Comparable>(inout array: [T])
but if you want to use localizedCaseInsensitiveCompare:, your code can be translated directly using NSArray.

Answer 7

Any method that can be used with Objective-C sortedArrayUsingSelector: can be used with Swift sort (or sorted) provided the type of thing in the array is known. So, in your code:
var arr : [String] = // ...
// it is an array of String, so we can use localizedCaseInsensitiveCompare:
sort(&arr) {return $0.localizedCaseInsensitiveCompare($1) == .OrderedAscending}
Similarly:
var events : [EKEvent] = // ...
sort(&events) {return $0.compareStartDateWithEvent($1) == .OrderedAscending}

Answer 8

In Swift-
let students: Set = ["Kofi", "Abena", "Peter", "Kweku", "Akosua"]
let sortedStudents = students.sorted()
print(sortedStudents)
// Prints "["Abena", "Akosua", "Kofi", "Kweku", "Peter"]"
To sort the elements of your sequence in descending order, pass the greater-than operator (>) to the sorted(isOrderedBefore:) method.
let descendingStudents = students.sorted(isOrderedBefore: >)
print(descendingStudents)
// Prints "["Peter", "Kweku", "Kofi", "Akosua", "Abena"]"