Unlock the Power of String Sorting
When it comes to organizing data, sorting strings in dictionary order is an essential task. But how do you do it efficiently? Let’s dive into a step-by-step guide to create a program that sorts strings with ease.
The Problem Statement
Imagine you have a list of 5 words: “apple”, “banana”, “cherry”, “date”, and “elderberry”. Your goal is to sort them in lexicographical order. Sounds simple, but it requires a clever approach.
The Solution
Our program uses a clever technique to sort the words. We store the list of words in a variable called words. Then, we loop through each word (words[i]) and compare it with all words (words[j]) after it in the array. This is where the magic happens.
The Magic of compareTo()
We utilize the compareTo() method, which returns an integer value indicating the relationship between two strings. If the return value is greater than 0, it means words[i] comes after words[j], and we need to swap them. By doing this, we ensure that words[i] always contains the earliest word in each iteration.
Java Code Unleashed
Here’s the equivalent Java code to sort words in lexicographical order:
java
public class StringSorter {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String[] words = {"apple", "banana", "cherry", "date", "elderberry"};
for (int i = 0; i < words.length; i++) {
for (int j = i + 1; j < words.length; j++) {
if (words[i].compareTo(words[j]) > 0) {
String temp = words[i];
words[i] = words[j];
words[j] = temp;
}
}
}
System.out.println("Sorted words:");
for (String word : words) {
System.out.println(word);
}
}
}
The Output
When you run the program, you’ll get the sorted list of words in dictionary order:
Sorted words:
apple
banana
cherry
date
elderberry
With this program, you can effortlessly sort strings in lexicographical order, making data organization a breeze.