lexicographically compare strings

[ejkang62]

how can i compare each element of string array[] lexicographically?

For example, if i want to find the smallest element in

folks[8] = {
		"samwell", "jon", "margaery", "daenerys",
		"tyrion", "sansa", "howard", "cersei"
	};

would simply comparing each element like if (folk[0]<folk[1]) {do something} work??

[mbozzi]

would simply comparing each element like if (folk[0]<folk[1]) {do something} work??

Yes.

operator< is overloaded for std::string to compare lexicographically.
For types other than strings, there is std::lexicographical_compare.

In linear time:

# include <iostream>
int main() {
  std::string folks[8] = {
    "samwell", "jon", "margaery", "daenerys",
    "tyrion", "sansa", "howard", "cersei"
  };
  auto min = folks[0];
  for (auto const &elt: folks)  
    min = elt < min? elt: min;
  
  std::cout << min << "\n";
}

http://coliru.stacked-crooked.com/a/f2af1847c3ac1c6e