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Swift Academy · Lesson

Comparable and Sorting

Define ordering with < for sorting.

Lesson 3 of 413 steps

Comparable and Sorting is a free Swift Academy lesson on CoddyKit. This is lesson 3 of 4. Any 3 lessons of this learning path are free to read in full — after that, CoddyKit PRO unlocks every lesson, plus hands-on practice with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the Swift Academy learning path, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app. The Swift Academy course includes 4 lessons in total.

What Is Comparable?

Comparable gives a type ordering operators: <, <=, >, >=. Conforming lets you call sorted(), min(), and max() directly.

Conforming with <

You only implement <; the rest are derived. (Equatable is also required.)

struct Version: Comparable {
    let major: Int
    static func < (l: Version, r: Version) -> Bool { l.major < r.major }
}
print(Version(major: 1) < Version(major: 2))  // true

Sorting a Comparable Type

With Comparable, sorted() needs no closure:

struct Score: Comparable {
    let points: Int
    static func < (l: Score, r: Score) -> Bool { l.points < r.points }
}
let sorted = [Score(points: 3), Score(points: 1), Score(points: 2)].sorted()
print(sorted.map { $0.points })  // [1, 2, 3]

min and max for Free

Comparable also enables aggregate helpers:

struct Temp: Comparable {
    let c: Int
    static func < (l: Temp, r: Temp) -> Bool { l.c < r.c }
}
let temps = [Temp(c: 20), Temp(c: 5), Temp(c: 30)]
print(temps.min()!.c, temps.max()!.c)  // 5 30

Multi-Key Ordering

For tie-breaking across several fields, compare them in priority order inside < using tuples — Swift compares tuples lexicographically.

Tuple Comparison Trick

Compare by last name, then first name:

struct Person: Comparable {
    let last: String
    let first: String
    static func < (l: Person, r: Person) -> Bool {
        (l.last, l.first) < (r.last, r.first)
    }
}
let p = [Person(last: "Lee", first: "Bo"), Person(last: "Lee", first: "An")].sorted()
print(p.map { $0.first })  // ["An", "Bo"]

Sorting Without Comparable

You can always sort with a trailing closure even if the type is not Comparable:

struct Item { let name: String; let qty: Int }
let items = [Item(name: "B", qty: 2), Item(name: "A", qty: 5)]
let byQty = items.sorted { $0.qty > $1.qty }
print(byQty.map { $0.name })  // ["A", "B"]

Descending Sort

Reverse the comparison or call .reversed():

let nums = [3, 1, 4, 1, 5]
print(nums.sorted(by: >))         // [5, 4, 3, 1, 1]
print(nums.sorted().reversed())   // [5, 4, 3, 1, 1]

sorted vs sort

sorted() returns a new array; sort() mutates in place (needs a var):

var nums = [3, 1, 2]
nums.sort()
print(nums)  // [1, 2, 3]
let copy = [3, 1, 2].sorted()
print(copy)  // [1, 2, 3]

Stable-Enough Sorting

Swift sort is guaranteed stable since Swift 5: equal elements keep their relative order. Rely on this for predictable multi-pass sorts:

let words = ["bb", "a", "cc", "d"]
let byLen = words.sorted { $0.count < $1.count }
print(byLen)  // ["a", "d", "bb", "cc"]  -- "a" before "d", "bb" before "cc"

Sorting by a Key Path

You can sort with a closure that reads any property without conforming the whole type:

struct Player { let name: String; let score: Int }
let players = [Player(name: "A", score: 30), Player(name: "B", score: 50)]
let ranked = players.sorted { $0.score > $1.score }
print(ranked.map { $0.name })  // ["B", "A"]

Quick Check

Which single operator must you implement to conform to Comparable?

Answer it in the interactive lesson

Recap

You learned Comparable:

  • Comparable provides ordering operators; implement only <
  • Enables sorted(), min(), max() with no closure
  • Tuple comparison gives easy multi-key ordering
  • sorted() returns new; sort() mutates; sort is stable

Next: custom equality semantics.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the “Comparable and Sorting” lesson free?

Yes — any 3 lessons of the Swift Academy learning path, including “Comparable and Sorting”, are free to read in full here on the web. After that, CoddyKit PRO unlocks every lesson, plus interactive practice with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. The Swift Academy course includes 4 lessons in total.

What will I learn in “Comparable and Sorting”?

Define ordering with < for sorting. You practise Swift Academy with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.

Do I need any experience to start Swift Academy?

No prior experience is required. Swift Academy on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace. This is lesson 3 of 4.

How long does the “Comparable and Sorting” lesson take?

Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.

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All lessons in this course

  1. Synthesized Equatable
  2. Hashable and hash(into:)
  3. Comparable and Sorting
  4. Custom Equality Semantics
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