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std::stable_sort

Defined in header <algorithm>
(1)
template< class RandomIt >
void stable_sort( RandomIt first, RandomIt last );
(until C++26)
template< class RandomIt >
constexpr void stable_sort( RandomIt first, RandomIt last );
(since C++26)
template< class ExecutionPolicy, class RandomIt >
void stable_sort( ExecutionPolicy&& policy,
                  RandomIt first, RandomIt last );
(2) (since C++17)
(3)
template< class RandomIt, class Compare >
void stable_sort( RandomIt first, RandomIt last, Compare comp );
(until C++26)
template< class RandomIt, class Compare >
constexpr void stable_sort( RandomIt first, RandomIt last, Compare comp );
(since C++26)
template< class ExecutionPolicy, class RandomIt, class Compare >
void stable_sort( ExecutionPolicy&& policy,
                  RandomIt first, RandomIt last, Compare comp );
(4) (since C++17)

Sorts the elements in the range [firstlast) in non-descending order. The order of equivalent elements is guaranteed to be preserved.

A sequence is sorted with respect to a comparator comp if for any iterator it pointing to the sequence and any non-negative integer n such that it + n is a valid iterator pointing to an element of the sequence, comp(*(it + n), *it) (or *(it + n) < *it) evaluates to false.

1) Elements are compared using operator<.
3) Elements are compared using the given comparison function comp.
2,4) Same as (1,3), but executed according to policy. These overloads do not participate in overload resolution unless

std::is_execution_policy_v<std::decay_t<ExecutionPolicy>> is true.

(until C++20)

std::is_execution_policy_v<std::remove_cvref_t<ExecutionPolicy>> is true.

(since C++20)

Parameters

first, last - the range of elements to sort
policy - the execution policy to use. See execution policy for details.
comp - comparison function object (i.e. an object that satisfies the requirements of Compare) which returns ​true if the first argument is less than (i.e. is ordered before) the second.

The signature of the comparison function should be equivalent to the following:

bool cmp(const Type1& a, const Type2& b);

While the signature does not need to have const&, the function must not modify the objects passed to it and must be able to accept all values of type (possibly const) Type1 and Type2 regardless of value category (thus, Type1& is not allowed, nor is Type1 unless for Type1 a move is equivalent to a copy (since C++11)).
The types Type1 and Type2 must be such that an object of type RandomIt can be dereferenced and then implicitly converted to both of them. ​

Type requirements
-RandomIt must meet the requirements of ValueSwappable and LegacyRandomAccessIterator.
-The type of dereferenced RandomIt must meet the requirements of MoveAssignable and MoveConstructible.

Return value

(none).

Complexity

O(N·log(N)2), where N = std::distance(first, last) applications of cmp. If additional memory is available, then the complexity is O(N·log(N)).

Exceptions

The overloads with a template parameter named ExecutionPolicy report errors as follows:

  • If execution of a function invoked as part of the algorithm throws an exception and ExecutionPolicy is one of the standard policies, std::terminate is called. For any other ExecutionPolicy, the behavior is implementation-defined.
  • If the algorithm fails to allocate memory, std::bad_alloc is thrown.

Notes

This function attempts to allocate a temporary buffer equal in size to the sequence to be sorted. If the allocation fails, the less efficient algorithm is chosen.

Feature-test macro Value Comment
__cpp_lib_constexpr_algorithms 202306L constexpr stable sorting

Possible implementation

See also the implementations in libstdc++ and libc++.

Example

#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
 
struct Employee
{
    int age;
    std::string name;  // Does not participate in comparisons
};
 
bool operator<(const Employee & lhs, const Employee & rhs)
{
    return lhs.age < rhs.age;
}
 
int main()
{
    std::vector<Employee> v
    {
        {108, "Zaphod"},
        {32, "Arthur"},
        {108, "Ford"},
    };
 
    std::stable_sort(v.begin(), v.end());
 
    for (const Employee & e : v)
        std::cout << e.age << ", " << e.name << '\n';
}

Output:

32, Arthur
108, Zaphod
108, Ford

See also

sorts a range into ascending order
(function template)
sorts the first N elements of a range
(function template)
divides elements into two groups while preserving their relative order
(function template)
(C++20)
sorts a range of elements while preserving order between equal elements
(niebloid)

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