Manually sorting an ArrayList of strings alphabetically in Java

Question

I am trying to reorder an ArrayList alphabetically for an assignment. I am not allowed to use any methods for automatically sorting, it has to be done manually. This is the code I tried, but it does not even run. I appreciate any input on this.

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class SortArrayList {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ArrayList<String> values = new ArrayList<String>();
        public static void main(String[] args) {
        ArrayList<String> values = new ArrayList<String>();
        values.add("car");
        values.add("bear");
        values.add("apple");
        values.add("xray");
        sort(values);
        for (int i = 0; i < values.size(); i++)
            System.out.println(values.get(i));
    }

    public static void sort(ArrayList<String> x) {
        String temp;
        for (int i = 0; i < x.size() - 1; i++) {
            for (int j = i + 1; j < x.size(); j++) {
                if (x.get(i).compareToIgnoreCase(x.get(j)) > 0) {
                    temp = x.get(i);
                    x.add(i,x.get(j));
                    x.add(j,temp); 

                }
            }
        }
    }
}

The code runs ok (when you remove the duplicate main method), but in an infinite loop because you keep adding new elements into the list in sort (x.size() increases by two in each round of iteration). — Mick Mnemonic
– Mick Mnemonic, Commented Nov 1, 2015 at 1:30

badjr · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-01 01:30:54Z

3

The lines

x.add(i,x.get(j));
x.add(j,temp);

are adding more elements to the ArrayList. You should change them to

x.set(i, x.get(j));
x.set(j, temp);

so that it replaces the elements at those positions.

answered Nov 1, 2015 at 1:30

badjr

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Comments

Alequin · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-01 01:34:38Z

0

Unless the multiple calls to public static void main(String[] args) was a typo when you copied it across for your question this would cause issues when running the program as it won't know where to start

answered Nov 1, 2015 at 1:34

Alequin

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