Sort a string array alphabetically ignoring numbers and symbols

c#, sorting, string

Solution

Use `Array.Sort<T>(T[],IComparer<T>)` overload, and skip digits before comparing strings.

var array = new[] {
    "09Bananas", "Pears2", "Mangoes39Bad", "100Apples", "Mangoes38Good"
};
Array.Sort(array, (a,b) => {
    a = new string(a.Where(char.IsLetter).ToArray());
    b = new string(b.Where(char.IsLetter).ToArray());
    return a.CompareTo(b);
});
Console.WriteLine(string.Join(", ", array));

The LINQ expression `a.Where(char.IsLetter).ToArray()` converts a string to an array of individual letters.

Problem

I'm trying to sort a string array that contains numbers just by the letters so for example: `Original array = {"09Bananas", "Pears2", "Mangoes39Bad", "100Apples", "Mangoes38Good"}` Should become: `Sorted array = {"100Apples", "09Bananas", "Mangoes39Bad", "Mangoes38Good", "Pears2"}` However when I try to use `Array.sort(original)` it would come out like this: `{"09Bananas", "100Apples", "Mangoes38Good", "Mangoes39Bad", "Pears2"}` Is there an overload of `Array.sort` that would make it ignore numbers? Thanks

Original source