So, let's say I have an array of strings
string[] stringArray = new string[5] { "3 Three", "8 Eight", "6 Six", "13 Thirteen", "24 Twenty Four";
I want to select the first numbers within each string element and sort this array in ascending order' I want the outcome to be when using:
Console.Writeline(String.Format("{0}, {1} and {2} are the lowest elements", stringArray[0], stringArray[1], stringArray[2]))
Displaying: '3 Three, 6 Six and 8 Eight are the lowest elements'
You can use String.Split and int.Parse with LINQ:
stringArray = stringArray.OrderBy(s => int.Parse(s.Split()[0])).ToArray();
another more efficient but less readable way is Array.Sort:
Array.Sort(stringArray, (s1, s2) => int.Parse(s1.Split()[0]).CompareTo(int.Parse(s2.Split()[0])));
Something like this should do the trick
string[] stringArray = new string[5] { "3 Three", "8 Eight", "6 Six", "13 Thirteen", "24 Twenty Four" };
var ordered = stringArray.Select(s => new { number = int.Parse(s.Split(' ')[0]), text = s.Split(' ')[1] }).OrderBy(i => i.number).Select(arg => arg.number + " " + arg.text).ToArray();
Console.WriteLine($"{ordered[0]}, {ordered[1]} and {ordered[2]} are the lowest elements");
Or in your simple scenario :
var ordered = stringArray.OrderBy(s => int.Parse(s.Split(' ')[0])).ToArray();
Console.WriteLine($"{ordered[0]}, {ordered[1]} and {ordered[2]} are the lowest elements");
string[] stringArray = new string[5] { "3 Three", "8 Eight", "6 Six", "13 Thirteen", "24 Twenty Four"};
string[] orderedArray = stringArray.OrderBy(ele => Convert.ToInt32(ele.Split(' ')[0])).ToArray();
Console.Writeline(String.Format("{0}, {1} and {2} are the lowest elements", orderedArray[0], orderedArray[1], orderedArray[2]))
Use the above code.
Instead of splitting or parsing the strings, it is a bit more efficient to just sort by the index of the first space and then by the string:
string[] stringArray = { "3 Three", "8 Eight", "6 Six", "13 Thirteen", "24 Twenty Four" };
var ordered = stringArray.OrderBy(s => s.IndexOf(' ')).ThenBy(s => s).ToArray();
Debug.Print(string.Join(", ", ordered)); // "3 Three, 6 Six, 8 Eight, 13 Thirteen, 24 Twenty Four"
