The problem was clearly outlined in the first post.
qsort() sorts array, arrays of structs, but it won't sort "anything". For example lists. Instead of trying to fudge this problem I implemented my own sorting algorithm in place. The algorithm does some other things too.
Yes there is nothing wrong with bubble sort!
The only reason a union was suggested was because you specifically said earlier, "I want to be able to store it anywhere on the stack instead of using malloc or dynamic allocation on the heap (don't ask)." It is easy to write a generic swap with memcpy(); it's harder to do without malloc() and also still accommodate mostly arbitrary data types. That is why you are getting inconvenient suggestions. I'm sorry to tell you that it's much easier to just use malloc() in your implementation. Anything else is going to be even more work than that.Now when I repeatedly said that I don't wish to specify a datatype for the storage explicitly, why am I going to make things more complicated and bundle a whole load them in a union instead?
Last edited by whiteflags; 08-05-2018 at 06:26 PM.
A third possible solution might be to use static keyword memory; but, this only avoids malloc() because it still uses the memory heap on most implementations.
Tim S.
"...a computer is a stupid machine with the ability to do incredibly smart things, while computer programmers are smart people with the ability to do incredibly stupid things. They are,in short, a perfect match.." Bill Bryson
