Sorting a dynamic 2-dimensional array of Strings
Last Updated :
11 Jul, 2025
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Prerequisite: How to dynamically allocate a 2D array in C?
Double pointer: A pointer pointing to another pointer is known as a Double pointer. To represent the double pointer ' ** ' is used. Double pointer is also called as pointer to pointer. Example:
Input: Geeks, Gfg, Placement, Sudo, Gate Output: Gate, Geeks, Gfg, Placement, Sudo
The idea is to dynamically allocate memory and values to the strings in a form of a 2-D array. Then apply bubble sort using strcmp and strcpy function.
Implementation:
#include <cstdlib>
#include <cstring>
#include <iostream>
// Function to sort the values
void sort(char** names, int n)
{
int i, j;
// Perform sort operation using bubble sort
for (i = 0; i < n - 1; i++)
for (j = 0; j < n - i - 1; j++)
if (strcmp(names[j], names[j + 1]) > 0) {
char* temp;
temp = (char*)calloc(30, sizeof(char));
strcpy(temp, names[j]);
strcpy(names[j], names[j + 1]);
strcpy(names[j + 1], temp);
}
}
// Driver code
int main()
{
char** names;
int n, i;
std::cout
<< "Enter the number of names to be printed: ";
std::cin >> n;
// allocating memory for 1st dimension
names = (char**)calloc(n, sizeof(char*));
for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
// allocating memory for 2nd dimension
{
names[i] = (char*)calloc(30, sizeof(char));
std::cin >> names[i];
}
sort(names, n);
std::cout << "\nArray after sorting:\n";
for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
std::cout << names[i] << std::endl;
return 0;
}
//code contributed by dhanshriborse
// C program to sort an array of strings
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
// Function to sort the values
void sort(char** names, int n)
{
int i, j;
// Perform sort operation using bubble sort
for (i = 0; i < n - 1; i++)
for (j = 0; j < n - i - 1; j++)
if (strcmp(names[j], names[j + 1]) > 0) {
char* temp;
temp = (char*)calloc(30, sizeof(char));
strcpy(temp, names[j]);
strcpy(names[j], names[j + 1]);
strcpy(names[j + 1], temp);
}
}
// Driver code
int main()
{
char** names;
int n, i;
printf("Enter the number of names to be printed: ");
scanf("%d\n", &n);
// allocating memory for 1st dimension
names = (char**)calloc(n, sizeof(char*));
for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
// allocating memory for 2nd dimension
{
names[i] = (char*)calloc(30, sizeof(char));
scanf("%s", names[i]);
}
sort(names, n);
printf("\nArray after sorting:\n");
for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
printf("%s\n", names[i]);
return 0;
}
// Java code
import java.util.Scanner;
// Function to sort the values
class GFG
{
public static void sort(String names[], int n)
{
for (int i = 0; i < n - 1; i++)
{
for (int j = 0; j < n - i - 1; j++)
{
if (names[j].compareTo(names[j + 1]) > 0)
{
// swap arr[j+1] and arr[i]
String temp = names[j];
names[j] = names[j + 1];
names[j + 1] = temp;
}
}
}
}
// Driver code
public static void main (String[] args) {
Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
Sort ob = new Sort();
String names[] = new String[10];
int n = scanner.nextInt();
scanner.nextLine();
// Input names
for(int i = 0; i < n; i++){
names[i] = scanner.nextLine();
}
ob.sort(names, n);
System.out.println("\nArray after sorting:\n");
for(int i = 0; i < n; i++){
System.out.println(names[i]);
}
}
}
// This code is contributed by akashish__
# Python code
# Function to sort the values
def sort(names, n):
for i in range(n-1):
for j in range(n-i-1):
if (names[j] > names[j+1]):
temp = names[j]
names[j] = names[j+1]
names[j+1] = temp
# Driver code
if __name__ == '__main__':
names = []
n = int(input("Enter the number of names to be printed: "))
for i in range(0, n):
names.append(input())
sort(names, n)
print("\nArray after sorting:\n")
for i in range(n):
print(names[i])
# This code is contributed by akashish__
// JavaScript code
// Function to sort the values
function sort(names, n){
for(let i=0; i<n-1; i++){
for(let j=0; j<n-i-1; j++){
if(names[j] > names[j+1]){
let temp = names[j];
names[j] = names[j+1];
names[j+1] = temp;
}
}
}
}
// Driver code
let names = [];
let n = parseInt(prompt("Enter the number of names to be printed: "));
for(let i=0; i<n; i++){
names.push(prompt());
}
sort(names, n);
console.log("\nArray after sorting:\n");
for(let i=0; i<n; i++){
console.log(names[i]);
}
// This code is contributed by akashish__
using System;
class Program {
static void Main(string[] args) {
string[] names;
int n, i;
Console.Write("Enter the number of names to be printed: ");
string input = Console.ReadLine();
while (!int.TryParse(input, out n)) {
Console.Write("Invalid input. Please enter a valid integer: ");
input = Console.ReadLine();
}
// allocating memory for 1st dimension
names = new string[n];
for (i = 0; i < n; i++) // allocating memory for 2nd dimension
{
names[i] = Console.ReadLine();
}
Sort(names, n);
Console.WriteLine("\nArray after sorting:");
for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
Console.WriteLine(names[i]);
}
static void Sort(string[] names, int n) {
int i, j;
// Perform sort operation using bubble sort
for (i = 0; i < n - 1; i++)
for (j = 0; j < n - i - 1; j++)
if (string.Compare(names[j], names[j + 1]) > 0) {
string temp;
temp = names[j];
names[j] = names[j + 1];
names[j + 1] = temp;
}
}
}
Output:
