IsSorted, array

A C# array may be already sorted. We can avoid sorting it again in this case. This is useful when accepting input that needs to be presorted, or for certain algorithms.

Method details

We develop "is sorted" methods for int and string arrays. Using a method that checks for sorted order avoids the cost of sorting the elements.

Required output

Consider an array that is already sorted, like an int array that contains the elements 1, 2, 4 and 8. IsSorted must return true here.

Array:  1, 2, 4, 8
Result: True

Example

Let us examine the IsSorted code. We loop over arrays, comparing adjacent elements for the correct ordering. This is a simple approach, but an effective one.

using System;

class Program
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Determines if int array is sorted from 0 -> Max
    /// </summary>
    public static bool IsSorted(int[] array)
    {
        for (int i = 1; i < array.Length; i++)
        {
            if (array[i - 1] > array[i])
            {
                return false;
            }
        }
        return true;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Determines if string array is sorted from A -> Z
    /// </summary>
    public static bool IsSorted(string[] array)
    {
        for (int i = 1; i < array.Length; i++)
        {
            if (array[i - 1].CompareTo(array[i]) > 0) // If previous is bigger, return false
            {
                return false;
            }
        }
        return true;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Determines if int array is sorted from Max -> 0
    /// </summary>
    public static bool IsSortedDescending(int[] array)
    {
        for (int i = array.Length - 2; i >= 0; i--)
        {
            if (array[i] < array[i + 1])
            {
                return false;
            }
        }
        return true;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Determines if string array is sorted from Z -> A
    /// </summary>
    public static bool IsSortedDescending(string[] array)
    {
        for (int i = array.Length - 2; i >= 0; i--)
        {
            if (array[i].CompareTo(array[i + 1]) < 0) // If previous is smaller, return false
            {
                return false;
            }
        }
        return true;
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        int[] sortedInts = new int[]
        {
            1,
            4,
            6,
            8
        };
        string[] unsortedStrings = new string[]
        {
            "soda",
            "pop",
            "coke",
            "tonic"
        };
        // Test the methods.
        Console.WriteLine(IsSorted(sortedInts));
        Console.WriteLine(IsSorted(unsortedStrings));
    }
}
True
False

Notes, descending

The IsSortedDescending method checks that the argument array is sorted from high to low—this is descending order. We must implement special "descending" loops.

Summary

We can determine if arrays are already sorted. These methods are fast. You could adapt the approach in these methods to char or object arrays.