Namespace:
System.Collections.Generic
Assembly:
mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Visual Basic (Declaration)
Dim instance As List
instance.Sort()
This method uses the default comparer Comparer<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Default for type T to determine the order of list elements. The Comparer<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Default property checks whether type T implements the IComparable<(Of <(T>)>) generic interface and uses that implementation, if available. If not, Comparer<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Default checks whether type T implements the IComparable interface. If type T does not implement either interface, Comparer<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Default throws an InvalidOperationException.
This method uses Array..::.Sort, which uses the QuickSort algorithm. This implementation performs an unstable sort; that is, if two elements are equal, their order might not be preserved. In contrast, a stable sort preserves the order of elements that are equal.
On average, this method is an O(n log n) operation, where n is Count; in the worst case it is an O(n ^ 2) operation.
The following code example demonstrates the Sort()()() method overload and the BinarySearch(T) method overload. A List<(Of <(T>)>) of strings is created and populated with four strings, in no particular order. The list is displayed, sorted, and displayed again.
The BinarySearch(T) method overload is then used to search for two strings that are not in the list, and the Insert method is used to insert them. The return value of the BinarySearch method is negative in each case, because the strings are not in the list. Taking the bitwise complement (the ~ operator in C# and Visual C++, Xor -1 in Visual Basic) of this negative number produces the index of the first element in the list that is larger than the search string, and inserting at this location preserves the sort order. The second search string is larger than any element in the list, so the insertion position is at the end of the list.
Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Public Class Example
Public Shared Sub Main()
Dim dinosaurs As New List(Of String)
dinosaurs.Add("Pachycephalosaurus")
dinosaurs.Add("Amargasaurus")
dinosaurs.Add("Mamenchisaurus")
dinosaurs.Add("Deinonychus")
Console.WriteLine()
For Each dinosaur As String In dinosaurs
Console.WriteLine(dinosaur)
Next
Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "Sort")
dinosaurs.Sort
Console.WriteLine()
For Each dinosaur As String In dinosaurs
Console.WriteLine(dinosaur)
Next
Console.WriteLine(vbLf & _
"BinarySearch and Insert ""Coelophysis"":")
Dim index As Integer = dinosaurs.BinarySearch("Coelophysis")
If index < 0 Then
index = index Xor -1
dinosaurs.Insert(index, "Coelophysis")
End If
Console.WriteLine()
For Each dinosaur As String In dinosaurs
Console.WriteLine(dinosaur)
Next
Console.WriteLine(vbLf & _
"BinarySearch and Insert ""Tyrannosaurus"":")
index = dinosaurs.BinarySearch("Tyrannosaurus")
If index < 0 Then
index = index Xor -1
dinosaurs.Insert(index, "Tyrannosaurus")
End If
Console.WriteLine()
For Each dinosaur As String In dinosaurs
Console.WriteLine(dinosaur)
Next
End Sub
End Class
' This code example produces the following output:
'
'Pachycephalosaurus
'Amargasaurus
'Mamenchisaurus
'Deinonychus
'
'Sort
'
'Amargasaurus
'Deinonychus
'Mamenchisaurus
'Pachycephalosaurus
'
'BinarySearch and Insert "Coelophysis":
'
'Amargasaurus
'Coelophysis
'Deinonychus
'Mamenchisaurus
'Pachycephalosaurus
'
'BinarySearch and Insert "Tyrannosaurus":
'
'Amargasaurus
'Coelophysis
'Deinonychus
'Mamenchisaurus
'Pachycephalosaurus
'Tyrannosaurus
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
List<string> dinosaurs = new List<string>();
dinosaurs.Add("Pachycephalosaurus");
dinosaurs.Add("Amargasaurus");
dinosaurs.Add("Mamenchisaurus");
dinosaurs.Add("Deinonychus");
Console.WriteLine();
foreach(string dinosaur in dinosaurs)
{
Console.WriteLine(dinosaur);
}
Console.WriteLine("\nSort");
dinosaurs.Sort();
Console.WriteLine();
foreach(string dinosaur in dinosaurs)
{
Console.WriteLine(dinosaur);
}
Console.WriteLine("\nBinarySearch and Insert \"Coelophysis\":");
int index = dinosaurs.BinarySearch("Coelophysis");
if (index < 0)
{
dinosaurs.Insert(~index, "Coelophysis");
}
Console.WriteLine();
foreach(string dinosaur in dinosaurs)
{
Console.WriteLine(dinosaur);
}
Console.WriteLine("\nBinarySearch and Insert \"Tyrannosaurus\":");
index = dinosaurs.BinarySearch("Tyrannosaurus");
if (index < 0)
{
dinosaurs.Insert(~index, "Tyrannosaurus");
}
Console.WriteLine();
foreach(string dinosaur in dinosaurs)
{
Console.WriteLine(dinosaur);
}
}
}
/* This code example produces the following output:
Pachycephalosaurus
Amargasaurus
Mamenchisaurus
Deinonychus
Sort
Amargasaurus
Deinonychus
Mamenchisaurus
Pachycephalosaurus
BinarySearch and Insert "Coelophysis":
Amargasaurus
Coelophysis
Deinonychus
Mamenchisaurus
Pachycephalosaurus
BinarySearch and Insert "Tyrannosaurus":
Amargasaurus
Coelophysis
Deinonychus
Mamenchisaurus
Pachycephalosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
*/
using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections::Generic;
void main()
{
List<String^>^ dinosaurs = gcnew List<String^>();
dinosaurs->Add("Pachycephalosaurus");
dinosaurs->Add("Amargasaurus");
dinosaurs->Add("Mamenchisaurus");
dinosaurs->Add("Deinonychus");
Console::WriteLine();
for each(String^ dinosaur in dinosaurs)
{
Console::WriteLine(dinosaur);
}
Console::WriteLine("\nSort");
dinosaurs->Sort();
Console::WriteLine();
for each(String^ dinosaur in dinosaurs)
{
Console::WriteLine(dinosaur);
}
Console::WriteLine("\nBinarySearch and Insert \"Coelophysis\":");
int index = dinosaurs->BinarySearch("Coelophysis");
if (index < 0)
{
dinosaurs->Insert(~index, "Coelophysis");
}
Console::WriteLine();
for each(String^ dinosaur in dinosaurs)
{
Console::WriteLine(dinosaur);
}
Console::WriteLine("\nBinarySearch and Insert \"Tyrannosaurus\":");
index = dinosaurs->BinarySearch("Tyrannosaurus");
if (index < 0)
{
dinosaurs->Insert(~index, "Tyrannosaurus");
}
Console::WriteLine();
for each(String^ dinosaur in dinosaurs)
{
Console::WriteLine(dinosaur);
}
}
/* This code example produces the following output:
Pachycephalosaurus
Amargasaurus
Mamenchisaurus
Deinonychus
Sort
Amargasaurus
Deinonychus
Mamenchisaurus
Pachycephalosaurus
BinarySearch and Insert "Coelophysis":
Amargasaurus
Coelophysis
Deinonychus
Mamenchisaurus
Pachycephalosaurus
BinarySearch and Insert "Tyrannosaurus":
Amargasaurus
Coelophysis
Deinonychus
Mamenchisaurus
Pachycephalosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
*/
Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune
The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
.NET Framework
Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0
.NET Compact Framework
Supported in: 3.5, 2.0
XNA Framework
Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
Reference
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