Sorting a set of objects by a user's preference

Question

Given a set of n objects in no specific order (n = 5 in this example):

{
    apple,
    orange,
    banana,
    cherry,
    cabbage
}
         


        

Answer 1

Well you could add weight to each item based on the users answers. So for instance in your example of

banana      vs.      cabbage
      (no preference)

When the user selects banana you add a plus one to the banana item. If they select cabbage you give plus one to cabbage and then if they select no preference then you can just give neither a plus one. Then you can sort the list from the largest value to the smallest.