Sort an array of large numbers

Given an array of numbers where every number is represented as string. The numbers may be very large (may not fit in long long int), the task is to sort these numbers.

Examples:

Input : arr[] = {"5", "1237637463746732323", "12" };
Output : arr[] = {"5", "12", "1237637463746732323"};

Input : arr[] = {"50", "12", "12", "1"};
Output : arr[] = {"1", "12", "12", "50"};



The idea is to use sort() function in C++ or Arrays.sort in Java.

C++

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// C++ program to sort large numbers represented
// as strings.
#include<bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
  
// Returns true if str1 is smaller than str2.
bool compareNumbers(string str1, string str2)
{
    // Calculate lengths of both string
    int n1 = str1.length(), n2 = str2.length();
  
    if (n1 < n2)
       return true;
    if (n2 < n1)
       return false;
  
    // If lengths are same
    for (int i=0; i<n1; i++)
    {
       if (str1[i] < str2[i])
          return true;
       if (str1[i] > str2[i])
          return false;
    }
  
    return false;
}
  
// Function for sort an array of large numbers
// represented as strings
void sortLargeNumbers(string arr[], int n)
{
   sort(arr, arr+n, compareNumbers);
}
  
// Driver code
int main()
{
    string arr[] = {"5", "1237637463746732323", 
                    "97987", "12" };
    int n = sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]);
  
    sortLargeNumbers(arr, n);
  
    for (int i=0; i<n; i++)
      cout << arr[i] << " ";
  
    return 0;
}

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Java














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// Java program to sort large numbers represented 


// as strings. 


import java.io.*; 


import java.util.*; 


  


class main 


{ 


    // Function for sort an array of large numbers 


    // represented as strings 


    static void sortLargeNumbers(String arr[]) 


    { 


        // Refer below post for understanding below expression: 


        // https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/lambda-expressions-java-8/  


        Arrays.sort(arr, (left, right) -> 


        { 


            /* If length of left != right, then return  


               the diff of the length else  use compareTo 


               function to compare values.*/


            if (left.length() != right.length()) 


                return left.length() - right.length(); 


             return left.compareTo(right); 


        }); 


    } 


  


    // Driver code 


    public static void main(String args[]) 


    { 


        String arr[] = {"5", "1237637463746732323", 


                        "97987", "12" }; 


        sortLargeNumbers(arr); 


        for (String s : arr) 


            System.out.print(s + " "); 


    } 


} 



















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C#














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// C# program to sort large numbers  


// represented as strings.  


using System; 


  


class GFG  


{  


  


    // Function for sort an array of large  


    // numbers represented as strings  


    static void sortLargeNumbers(String []arr)  


    {  


        // Refer below post for understanding   


        // below expression:  


        // https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/lambda-expressions-java-8/  


        for(int i = 0; i < arr.Length - 1; i++) 


        {  


            /* If length of left != right, then 


            return the diff of the length else  


            use compareTo function to compare values.*/


            String left = arr[i], right = arr[i + 1]; 


            if (left.Length > right.Length)  


            { 


                arr[i] = right; 


                arr[i + 1] = left; 


                i -= 2; 


            } 


        }  


    }  


  


    // Driver code  


    public static void Main()  


    {  


        String []arr = {"5", "1237637463746732323",  


                        "97987", "12" };  


        sortLargeNumbers(arr);  


        foreach (String s in arr)  


            Console.Write(s + " ");  


    }  


}  


  


// This code is contibuted by PrinciRaj1992 



















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Output:


5 12 97987 1237637463746732323 



Time complexity : O(k * n Log n) where k is length of the longest number. Here assumption is that the sort() function uses a O(n Log n) sorting algorithm.


Similar Post : 

Sorting Big Integers


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