Quicksort to order array by business key?

Question

Hi,

I've an array of objects, the size of which I cannot predict. The contents of the array are model objects with properties of type nsstring and nsnumber.

I need to sort the array according to one of the properties, an nsnumber. How would you do it in objective-c/Cocoa? Implement quicksort or some other algorithm (which one)? Any libraries that handle that for you?

Update While the response below is correct, it only works on 10.6 and I'm targeting 10.5.

Answer 1

Use qsort() from stdlib.h.

Answer 2

NSArray has several sorting methdods. Given your array, arr,

NSSortDescriptor *sortDescriptor = [NSSortDescriptor sortDescriptorWithKey:@"numberProperty" ascending:YES];
NSArray *sortedArr = [arr sortedArrayUsingSortDescriptors:[NSArray arrayWithObject:sortDescriptor]];

will give you want you an array sorted (ascending) by @"numberProperty". Obviously, you'll have to substitute the name of the NSNumber property in your model objects for @"numberProperty".

The sorting algorithm is not specified in NSArray's sorting methods.

Answer 3

This is what I came up with:

NSArray *unsortedArray = [results allValues];
NSSortDescriptor *sortDescriptor = [[[NSSortDescriptor alloc] 
        initWithKey:@"ordinalPosition" 
          ascending:YES] 
        autorelease];

NSArray *sortedArray = [unsortedArray 
                       sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:[NSArray arrayWithObject:sortDescriptor]];