• Article

Array.Sort Method (Array, Int32, Int32, IComparer)

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Sorts the elements in a range of elements in a one-dimensional Array using the specified IComparer.

Namespace:  System
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Shared Sub Sort ( _
    array As Array, _
    index As Integer, _
    length As Integer, _
    comparer As IComparer _
)

public static void Sort(
    Array array,
    int index,
    int length,
    IComparer comparer
)

Parameters

  • index
    Type: System.Int32
    The starting index of the range to sort.
  • length
    Type: System.Int32
    The number of elements in the range to sort.

Exceptions

Exception Condition
ArgumentNullException

array is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).
RankException

array is multidimensional.
ArgumentOutOfRangeException

index is less than the lower bound of array.

-or-

length is less than zero.
ArgumentException

index and length do not specify a valid range in array.

-or-

The implementation of comparer caused an error during the sort. For example, comparer might not return 0 when comparing an item with itself.
InvalidOperationException

comparer is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), and one or more elements in array do not implement the IComparable interface.

Remarks

If comparer is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), each element within the specified range of elements in array must implement the IComparable interface to be capable of comparisons with every other element in array.

If the sort is not successfully completed, the results are undefined.

This method 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 length; in the worst case it is an O(n ^ 2) operation.

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.