How can I sort numbers lexicographically?

Question

Here is the scenario.

I am given an array \'A\' of integers. The size of the array is not fixed. The function that I am supposed to write may be called once with an

Answer 1

Since you mentioned Java is the actual language in question:

You don't need to convert to and from strings. Instead, define your own comparator and use that in the sort.

Specifically:

Comparator lexCompare = new Comparator(){
   int compareTo( Integer x, Integer y ) {
      return x.toString().compareTo( y.toString() );
   }
};

Then you can sort the array like this:

int[] array = /* whatever */;
Arrays.sort( array, lexCompare );

(Note: The int/Integer mismatch works automatically through auto-boxing)