qsort Routine issue ? please help !

[cry]

I am having trouble understanding qsort C++ routine.
The last parameter of qsort. why that function return *ia - *ib
return Minus ? I did not found any document anywhere ?

Please help ?

/* qsort int comparison function */int int_cmp(const void *a, const void *b) 
{ 
    const int *ia = (const int *)a; // casting pointer types 
    const int *ib = (const int *)b;
    // Here is the issue // return *ia  - *ib; 
	}

[rcgldr]

If the second element (*ib) is greater than the first element (*ia), then the result is negative, which is what qsort() expects.

[cry]

If the second element (*ib) is greater than the first element (*ia), then the result is negative, which is what qsort() expects.

Sir Not Clear. Between ia and ib there is a Minus operator which is subtraction operation ? How it's mapping greater than or less than ? which is >> or << symbol !
Thanks!

[laserlight]

Between ia and ib there is a Minus operator which is subtraction operation ? How it's mapping greater than or less than ? which is >> or << symbol !

Firstly, the operators for "greater than" and "less than" are > and < respectively. >> is the bitwise right shift operator and << is the bitwise left shift operator.

To understand what rcgldr is getting at, recall that qsort expects the comparison function passed to it to return one of three values whenever it is invoked to compare two elements from the given array:

• 0 if the two elements are equal in value
• a negative integer if the first element is less than the second element
• a positive integer if the first element is greater than the second element

So, assuming that the result is within the range (i.e., you never compare an element having a very negative value with an element having a very positive value), subtracting the second element from the first element would give you a number that satisfies the above conditions.

[Salem]

The result of qsort comparison functions is expected to be

A negative number (any negative number) if the first parameter is less than the second parameter
A positive number (any positive number) if the first parameter is greater than the second parameter
Zero if both are equal.

Say your two integers were 3 and 7 respectively. These two numbers are in sorted order.
3 - 7 results in a negative number.

Say your two integers were 7 and 3 respectively. These two numbers are NOT in sorted order.
7 - 3 results in a positive number.

> return *ia - *ib
This is actually a cheap shot containing potential numeric underflow issues.

This is better code, and hopefully easier for you to understand.

if ( *ia < *ib ) return -1;
if ( *ia > *ib ) return +1;
return 0; // they're equal

[cry]

qshort (/**********/) First Parameter value which can be random mixed integers. and the Last last parameter which is a function has a return type int and has two arguments so from the first parameter of qshort of the all the number assigned as the arguments of last parameter of qosrt routine ?

Thanks