Sort a string array in C#

This post will discuss how to sort a string array in C#.

1. Using `Array.Sort()` method

The standard solution to in-place sort elements of a single-dimensional string array is using the Array.Sort() method. Its default behavior is to sort the string array in alphabetical order, as shown below.

using System;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

string[] arr = { "Sort", "Array", "C#" };

Array.Sort(arr);

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", arr));

}

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Output:

Array, C#, Sort

The Array.Sort() method is overloaded to accept custom comparers. For example, the following code uses the StringComparer.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase property to perform the case-insensitive string comparison using the word comparison rules of the current culture.

using System;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

string[] arr = { "Sort", "Array", "c#" };

Array.Sort(arr, StringComparer.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase);

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", arr));

}

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Output:

Array, c#, Sort

Here’s another example that takes a custom comparer to sort the string array by its length.

using System;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

string[] arr = { "Sort", "Array", "C#" };

Array.Sort(arr, (x, y) => x.Length.CompareTo(y.Length));

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", arr));

}

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Output:

C#, Sort, Array

2. Using `Enumerable.OrderBy` Method

To get a sorted copy of the original array, consider using the Enumerable.OrderBy method by LINQ. The following code example demonstrates its usage to sort a string array alphabetically:

using System;

using System.Linq;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

string[] arr = { "Sort", "Array", "C#" };

string[] sorted = arr.OrderBy(x => x).ToArray();

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", sorted));

}

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Output:

Array, C#, Sort

Like Array.Sort() method, the Enumerable.OrderBy() method is overloaded to accept custom comparers. For example, the following code uses a custom comparer to sort the string array by its length.

using System;

using System.Linq;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

string[] arr = { "Sort", "Array", "C#" };

string[] sortedByLength = arr.OrderBy(a => a.Length).ToArray();

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", sortedByLength));

}

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Output:

C#, Sort, Array

That’s all about sorting a string array in C#.

1. Using Array.Sort() method

2. Using Enumerable.OrderBy Method

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1. Using `Array.Sort()` method

2. Using `Enumerable.OrderBy` Method