Reorder vector using a vector of indices

Question

I\'d like to reorder the items in a vector, using another vector to specify the order:

char   A[]     = { \'a\', \'b\', \'c\' };
size_t ORDER[] = { 1, 0, 2 }         


        

Answer 1

Here is the correct code

void REORDER(vector& vA, vector& vOrder)  
{   
    assert(vA.size() == vOrder.size());

    // for all elements to put in place
    for( int i = 0; i < va.size() - 1; ++i )
    { 
        // while the element i is not yet in place 
        while( i != vOrder[i] )
        {
            // swap it with the element at its final place
            int alt = vOrder[i];
            swap( vA[i], vA[alt] );
            swap( vOrder[i], vOrder[alt] );
        }
    }
}

note that you can save one test because if n-1 elements are in place the last nth element is certainly in place.

On exit vA and vOrder are properly ordered.

This algorithm performs at most n-1 swapping because each swap moves the element to its final position. And we'll have to do at most 2N tests on vOrder.