How to sort an array and keep track of the index in java

Question

I am trying to sort (decreasing) an array of integers but keeping track of the original index.

I mean, for example if I have this array:

b[         


        

Answer 1

Try sorting pairs of (value, index) compared by value:

public class Pair implements Comparable {
    public final int index;
    public final int value;

    public Pair(int index, int value) {
        this.index = index;
        this.value = value;
    }

    @Override
    public int compareTo(Pair other) {
        //multiplied to -1 as the author need descending sort order
        return -1 * Integer.valueOf(this.value).compareTo(other.value);
    }
}

Then, when you're going to sort:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Pair[] yourArray = new Pair[10];

    //fill the array
    yourArray[0] = new Pair(0, 5); yourArray[1] = new Pair(1, 10); //and so on
    Arrays.sort(yourArray);
}

Now, you have an array of Pair object ordered by value descending. Each object also contains index- the place in the original array.

P. S. I wrote the sample in Java as the question has java tag. Although, in C++ the idea is the same, only the implementation is a little bit different.