*Help*in sorting and searching algorithm

help!
i m a newbie in programming and i have to solve this question in c++ programming. i m having a problem in solving this question..
i dont know where to start my program..
can any one give me some idea?

a. Enable user to create and manipulate a list of items (must be able to read integers, characters and strings).
b. Enable user to sort the list. (any sorting algorithm except naïve sort)
c. Enable user to search a particular item in the list. (use any searching algorithm)

You can use the Knuth-Morris-Pratt search algorithm ( http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/161...7.html)instead of the simple ,naive, one.