System.Array.Sort Method

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

Syntax

[System.Runtime.ConstrainedExecution.ReliabilityContract(System.Runtime.ConstrainedExecution.Consistency.MayCorruptInstance, System.Runtime.ConstrainedExecution.Cer.MayFail)]
public static void Sort (Array array, int index, int length, IComparer comparer)

Parameters

array
The one-dimensional Array to sort.
index
The starting index of the range to sort.
length
The number of elements in the range to sort.
comparer
The IComparer implementation to use when comparing elements.

Exceptions

TypeReason
ArgumentNullException array is null.
RankException array has more than one dimension.
ArgumentOutOfRangeException

index < array.GetLowerBound(0).

-or-

length < 0.

ArgumentException index and length do not specify a valid range in array.
InvalidOperationException comparer is null, and one or more elements in array that are used in a comparison do not implement the IComparable interface.

Remarks

If comparer is null, 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 introspective sort (introsort) algorithm as follows:

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.

For arrays that are sorted by using the Heapsort and Quicksort algorithms, in the worst case, this method is an O(n log n) operation, where n is length.

Requirements

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Assembly Versions: 1.0.5000.0, 2.0.0.0, 4.0.0.0