Sorting mixed numbers and strings

Question

I have a list of strings that can contain a letter or a string representation of an int (max 2 digits). They need to be sorted either alphabetically or (when it is actually an int) on the numerical value it represents.

Example:

IList<string> input = new List<string>()
    {"a", 1.ToString(), 2.ToString(), "b", 10.ToString()};

input.OrderBy(s=>s)
  // 1
  // 10
  // 2
  // a
  // b

What I would want is

  // 1
  // 2
  // 10
  // a
  // b

I have some idea involving formatting it with trying to parse it, then if it is a successfull tryparse to format it with my own custom stringformatter to make it have preceding zeros. I'm hoping for something more simple and performant.

Edit
I ended up making an IComparer I dumped in my Utils library for later use.
While I was at it I threw doubles in the mix too.

public class MixedNumbersAndStringsComparer : IComparer<string> {
    public int Compare(string x, string y) {
        double xVal, yVal;

        if(double.TryParse(x, out xVal) && double.TryParse(y, out yVal))
            return xVal.CompareTo(yVal);
        else 
            return string.Compare(x, y);
    }
}

//Tested on int vs int, double vs double, int vs double, string vs int, string vs doubl, string vs string.
//Not gonna put those here
[TestMethod]
public void RealWorldTest()
{
    List<string> input = new List<string>() { "a", "1", "2,0", "b", "10" };
    List<string> expected = new List<string>() { "1", "2,0", "10", "a", "b" };
    input.Sort(new MixedNumbersAndStringsComparer());
    CollectionAssert.AreEquivalent(expected, input);
}

Answer 1

Two ways come to mind, not sure which is more performant. Implement a custom IComparer:

class MyComparer : IComparer<string>
{
    public int Compare(string x, string y)
    {
        int xVal, yVal;
        var xIsVal = int.TryParse( x, out xVal );
        var yIsVal = int.TryParse( y, out yVal );

        if (xIsVal && yIsVal)   // both are numbers...
            return xVal.CompareTo(yVal);
        if (!xIsVal && !yIsVal) // both are strings...
            return x.CompareTo(y);
        if (xIsVal)             // x is a number, sort first
            return -1;
        return 1;               // x is a string, sort last
    }
}

var input = new[] {"a", "1", "10", "b", "2", "c"};
var e = input.OrderBy( s => s, new MyComparer() );

Or, split the sequence into numbers and non-numbers, then sort each subgroup, finally join the sorted results; something like:

var input = new[] {"a", "1", "10", "b", "2", "c"};

var result = input.Where( s => s.All( x => char.IsDigit( x ) ) )
                  .OrderBy( r => { int z; int.TryParse( r, out z ); return z; } )
                  .Union( input.Where( m => m.Any( x => !char.IsDigit( x ) ) )
                               .OrderBy( q => q ) );

Answer 2

Perhaps you could go with a more generic approach and use a natural sorting algorithm such as the C# implementation here.