How to Sort a Map by Keys in C++


How to Sort a Map by Keys in C++ ?

Answer

To sort a map by keys in C++, you can use the default behavior of the `std::map` container, which stores key-value pairs in sorted order based on the keys. This method ensures that the map is always sorted by keys.



✐ Examples

1 Sorting a Map by Keys Using std::map

We can sort a map by keys in C++ by using the `std::map` container, which automatically sorts the keys.

For example,

  1. We start by including the <map> header file, which provides the necessary functions and data structures for working with maps.
  2. We also include the <iostream> header for input-output operations.
  3. We declare and initialize a map named myMap with some key-value pairs. In this example, the map has integer keys and string values.
  4. Since `std::map` automatically sorts the keys, we do not need to perform any additional sorting operations.
  5. We print the sorted map to the console using a range-based for loop and the std::cout function to verify the sorting.

C++ Program

#include <map>
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    // Declare and initialize a map
    std::map<int, std::string> myMap = {
        {3, "three"},
        {1, "one"},
        {2, "two"}
    };

    // Print the sorted map
    std::cout << "Sorted Map by Keys: \n";
    for (const auto& pair : myMap) {
        std::cout << pair.first << ": " << pair.second << std::endl;
    }

    return 0;
}

Output

Sorted Map by Keys:
1: one
2: two
3: three

2 Sorting a Map by Keys in Descending Order

We can sort a map by keys in descending order in C++ by using `std::map` with a custom comparator.

For example,

  1. We start by including the <map> and <functional> header files, which provide the necessary functions and data structures for working with maps and custom comparators.
  2. We also include the <iostream> header for input-output operations.
  3. We declare a map named myMap with a custom comparator that sorts the keys in descending order.
  4. We initialize the map with some key-value pairs. In this example, the map has integer keys and string values.
  5. We print the sorted map to the console using a range-based for loop and the std::cout function to verify the sorting.

C++ Program

#include <map>
#include <functional>
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    // Declare and initialize a map with a custom comparator for descending order
    std::map<int, std::string, std::greater<int>> myMap = {
        {3, "three"},
        {1, "one"},
        {2, "two"}
    };

    // Print the sorted map
    std::cout << "Sorted Map by Keys (Descending): \n";
    for (const auto& pair : myMap) {
        std::cout << pair.first << ": " << pair.second << std::endl;
    }

    return 0;
}

Output

Sorted Map by Keys (Descending):
3: three
2: two
1: one

3 Sorting a Map by Keys Using std::map and Custom Comparator Function

We can sort a map by keys in C++ using a custom comparator function with `std::map` to specify a specific sorting order.

For example,

  1. We start by including the <map> and <functional> header files, which provide the necessary functions and data structures for working with maps and custom comparators.
  2. We also include the <iostream> header for input-output operations.
  3. We declare a custom comparator function named customComparator that sorts the keys in a specific order.
  4. We declare a map named myMap with the custom comparator function.
  5. We initialize the map with some key-value pairs. In this example, the map has integer keys and string values.
  6. We print the sorted map to the console using a range-based for loop and the std::cout function to verify the sorting.

C++ Program

#include <map>
#include <functional>
#include <iostream>

// Custom comparator function
struct customComparator {
    bool operator()(const int& lhs, const int& rhs) const {
        return lhs > rhs; // Example: descending order
    }
};

int main() {
    // Declare and initialize a map with the custom comparator function
    std::map<int, std::string, customComparator> myMap = {
        {3, "three"},
        {1, "one"},
        {2, "two"}
    };

    // Print the sorted map
    std::cout << "Sorted Map by Keys (Custom Order): \n";
    for (const auto& pair : myMap) {
        std::cout << pair.first << ": " << pair.second << std::endl;
    }

    return 0;
}

Output

Sorted Map by Keys (Custom Order):
3: three
2: two
1: one

Summary

In this tutorial, we learned How to Sort a Map by Keys in C++ language with well detailed examples.




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  2. How to create a Map with Initial Key-Value Pairs in C++ ?
  3. How to Print a Map in C++ ?
  4. How to Add a Key-Value Pair to a Map in C++ ?
  5. How to Set a Default Value for a Key in a Map in C++ ?
  6. How to Update the Value for a Key in a Map in C++ ?
  7. How to Check if a Map is Empty in C++ ?
  8. How to Check if a Key Exists in a Map in C++ ?
  9. How to Check if a Value Exists in a Map in C++ ?
  10. How to Get the Value Associated with a Key in a Map in C++ ?
  11. How to Remove a Key-Value Pair from a Map in C++ ?
  12. How to Remove Key-Value Pairs from a Map Based on Values in C++ ?
  13. How to Clear All Key-Value Pairs from a Map in C++ ?
  14. How to Iterate Over Keys in a Map in C++ ?
  15. How to Iterate Over Values in a Map in C++ ?
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  17. How to Get the Size (Number of Key-Value Pairs) of a Map in C++ ?
  18. How to Convert a Map to an Array of Keys in C++ ?
  19. How to Convert a Map to an Array of Values in C++ ?
  20. How to Convert a Map to an Array of Key-Value Pairs in C++ ?
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  22. How to Copy a Map in C++ ?
  23. How to Check if Two Maps are Equal in C++ ?
  24. How to Sort a Map by Keys in C++ ?
  25. How to Sort a Map by Values in C++ ?
  26. How to Filter a Map Based on Keys in C++ ?
  27. How to Filter a Map Based on Values in C++ ?
  28. How to Reduce Values in a Map to a Single Value in C++ ?
  29. How to Convert an Array of Key-Value Pairs to a Map in C++ ?
  30. How to Convert a Map to a JSON String in C++ ?
  31. How to Convert a JSON String to a Map in C++ ?
  32. How to Swap Keys and Values in a Map in C++ ?
  33. How to Create a Map of Maps in C++ ?
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