Slice is a lightweight data structure that is more effective, adaptable, and convenient than an array in the Go programming language. The slice is a variable-length sequence that holds elements of the same kind; multiple types of components cannot be stored in the same slice. In this tutorial, we will provide some examples of sorting a slice which contains basic types (string, int, float64) using sort package.
The below functions in sort package can be used to sort basic types slices:
func Slice(x any, less func(i, j int) bool): Slice sorts the slice x given the provided less function. It panics if x is not a slice. The sort is not guaranteed to be stable: equal elements may be reversed from their original order. For a stable sort, use SliceStable.
func Sort(data Interface): Sort sorts data in ascending order as determined by the Less method. It makes one call to data.Len to determine n and O(n*log(n)) calls to data.Less and data.Swap. The sort is not guaranteed to be stable.
type StringSlice []string: StringSlice attaches the methods of Interface to []string, sorting in increasing order.
type IntSlice []int: IntSlice attaches the methods of Interface to []int, sorting in increasing order.
type Float64Slice []float64: Float64Slice implements Interface for a []float64, sorting in increasing order, with not-a-number (NaN) values ordered before other values.
Example 1: Using Slice() function to sort string, int, float64 slices in ascending order
In example 1, we will use Slice() function to sort string, int and float64 slices in ascending order
Fist of all, we define the Less() function:
func(i, j int) bool {
return a[i] < a[j]
}With a is the slice
package main
import (
"fmt"
"sort"
)
func main() {
// int slice
intSlice := []int{1, 13, 5, 2, 8, 11}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", intSlice)
sort.Slice(intSlice, func(i, j int) bool {
return intSlice[i] < intSlice[j]
})
fmt.Println("After sort:", intSlice)
// string slice
stringSlice := []string{"anna", "grey", "mono", "bob", "daniel", "alice"}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", stringSlice)
sort.Slice(stringSlice, func(i, j int) bool {
return stringSlice[i] < stringSlice[j]
})
fmt.Println("After sort:", stringSlice)
// float64 slice
floatSlice := []float64{5.4, 2.4, 7.5, 1.5, 6.4}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", floatSlice)
sort.Slice(floatSlice, func(i, j int) bool {
return floatSlice[i] < floatSlice[j]
})
fmt.Println("After sort:", floatSlice)
}Output:
Before sort: [1 13 5 2 8 11]
After sort: [1 2 5 8 11 13]
Before sort: [anna grey mono bob daniel alice]
After sort: [alice anna bob daniel grey mono]
Before sort: [5.4 2.4 7.5 1.5 6.4]
After sort: [1.5 2.4 5.4 6.4 7.5]
Example 2: Using Sice() function to sort string, int, float64 slices in descending order
In example 1, we will use Slice() function to sort string, int and float64 slices in descending order
We need to change the Less() function to:
func(i, j int) bool {
return a[i] > a[j]
}With a is the slice
package main
import (
"fmt"
"sort"
)
func main() {
// int slice
intSlice := []int{1, 13, 5, 2, 8, 11}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", intSlice)
sort.Slice(intSlice, func(i, j int) bool {
return intSlice[i] > intSlice[j]
})
fmt.Println("After sort:", intSlice)
// string slice
stringSlice := []string{"anna", "grey", "mono", "bob", "daniel", "alice"}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", stringSlice)
sort.Slice(stringSlice, func(i, j int) bool {
return stringSlice[i] > stringSlice[j]
})
fmt.Println("After sort: ", stringSlice)
}Output:
Before sort: [1 13 5 2 8 11]
After sort: [13 11 8 5 2 1]
Before sort: [anna grey mono bob daniel alice]
After sort: [mono grey daniel bob anna alice]
Example 3: Using Sort() function with StringSlice, IntSlice, Float64Slice interface to ascending sort slices
Here's an example of using Sort() function which takes StringSlice, IntSlice, Float64Slice interfaces as parameter:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"sort"
)
func main() {
// int slice
intSlice := []int{1, 13, 5, 2, 8, 11}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", intSlice)
sort.Sort(sort.IntSlice(intSlice))
fmt.Println("After sort:", intSlice)
// string slice
stringSlice := []string{"anna", "grey", "mono", "bob", "daniel", "alice"}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", stringSlice)
sort.Sort(sort.StringSlice(stringSlice))
fmt.Println("After sort:", stringSlice)
// float64 slice
floatSlice := []float64{5.4, 2.4, 7.5, 1.5, 6.4}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", floatSlice)
sort.Sort(sort.Float64Slice(floatSlice))
fmt.Println("After sort:", floatSlice)
}
Output:
Before sort: [1 13 5 2 8 11]
After sort: [1 2 5 8 11 13]
Before sort: [anna grey mono bob daniel alice]
After sort: [alice anna bob daniel grey mono]
Before sort: [5.4 2.4 7.5 1.5 6.4]
After sort: [1.5 2.4 5.4 6.4 7.5]
Example 3: Using Sort and Reverse function to descending sort slices
func Reverse(data Interface) Interface: Reverse returns the reverse order for data.
Here's an example of using Sort() and Reverse() function to sort the slice in descending order:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"sort"
)
func main() {
// int slice
intSlice := []int{1, 13, 5, 2, 8, 11}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", intSlice)
sort.Sort(sort.Reverse(sort.IntSlice(intSlice)))
fmt.Println("After sort:", intSlice)
// string slice
stringSlice := []string{"anna", "grey", "mono", "bob", "daniel", "alice"}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", stringSlice)
sort.Sort(sort.Reverse(sort.StringSlice(stringSlice)))
fmt.Println("After sort:", stringSlice)
// float64 slice
floatSlice := []float64{5.4, 2.4, 7.5, 1.5, 6.4}
fmt.Println("Before sort: ", floatSlice)
sort.Sort(sort.Reverse(sort.Float64Slice(floatSlice)))
fmt.Println("After sort:", floatSlice)
}Output:
Before sort: [1 13 5 2 8 11]
After sort: [13 11 8 5 2 1]
Before sort: [anna grey mono bob daniel alice]
After sort: [mono grey daniel bob anna alice]
Before sort: [5.4 2.4 7.5 1.5 6.4]
After sort: [7.5 6.4 5.4 2.4 1.5]
Example 5: Using Strings(), Int(), Float64() to sort slices
func Strings(x []string): Strings sorts a slice of strings in increasing order.
func Ints(x []int): Ints sorts a slice of ints in increasing order.
func Float64s(x []float64): Float64s sorts a slice of float64s in increasing order. Not-a-number (NaN) values are ordered before other values.
The example below show how to use Ints() and Strings() functions in Golang:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"sort"
)
func main() {
intSl := []int{5, 2, 6, 3, 1, 4} // unsorted
sort.Ints(intSl)
fmt.Println(intSl)
stringSl := []string{"alice", "clair", "ace", "daniel", "bob"} // unsorted
sort.Strings(stringSl)
fmt.Println(stringSl)
}Output:
[1 2 3 4 5 6]
[ace alice bob clair daniel]
Summary
I've provided examples of sorting slices in Golang in this article. We can sort slices containing both basic and complex data types with the help of sort package and its functions. Since the slice is sorted in-place, a copy of the sorted slice is not returned.
References
