C# How to sort version number

Question

Suppose we have series of version number stored in List<string>. i need to sort those version number ascending or descending order. i have the done the job this way. my code attached.

var ver = new List<string>();
ver.Add("3.5");
ver.Add("3.15");
ver.Add("3.10");
ver.Add("3.1");

var OrderData = ver.Select(x => new
{
	version = x.ToString(),
	vorder = x.ToString().Replace(".", "")
}).OrderByDescending(y => Convert.ToInt32(y.vorder)).ToList();

without using LINQ how to achieve this task. looking for sample code. Thanks

Answer 1

Without using LINQ, you can use the List<T>.Sort() method to sort the version numbers in ascending or descending order. Here's an example of how you can do this:

var ver = new List<string>();
ver.Add("3.5");
ver.Add("3.15");
ver.Add("3.10");
ver.Add("3.1");
ver.Sort((x, y) =>
{
    var xparts = x.Split('.');
    var yparts = y.Split('.');
    for (int i = 0; i < xparts.Length; i++)
    {
        if (i >= yparts.Length)
            return 1;
        var xval = int.Parse(xparts[i]);
        var yval = int.Parse(yparts[i]);
        if (xval != yval)
            return xval.CompareTo(yval);
    }
    return xparts.Length.CompareTo(yparts.Length);
});

The above code sorts the version numbers in ascending order.

To sort in descending order you can use ver.Reverse() after sorting the list.

ver.Sort((x, y) =>
{
    var xparts = x.Split('.');
    var yparts = y.Split('.');
    for (int i = 0; i < xparts.Length; i++)
    {
        if (i >= yparts.Length)
            return 1;
        var xval = int.Parse(xparts[i]);
        var yval = int.Parse(yparts[i]);
        if (xval != yval)
            return xval.CompareTo(yval);
    }
    return xparts.Length.CompareTo(yparts.Length);
});
ver.Reverse();

This way you can achieve the same thing without using LINQ.

Answer 2

Perhaps using the version class is a better option

List<Version> versions = new()
{
    new (3, 5),
    new (3, 1),
    new (3, 15),
    new (3,10)
};

versions = versions
    .OrderBy(x => x.Major)
    .ThenBy(x => x.Minor)
    .ToList();