Numerical and Chronological Order
Strings representing numbers may be sorted based on the values of the numbers that they represent. For example, "-4", "2.5", "10", "89", "30,000". Note that pure application of this method may provide only a partial ordering on the strings, since different strings can represent the same number (as with "2" and "2.0", or when scientific notation is used, "2e3" and "2000").
A similar approach may be taken with strings representing dates or other items that can be ordered chronologically or in some other natural fashion.
Read more about this topic: Collation
Famous quotes containing the words numerical and/or order:
“There is a genius of a nation, which is not to be found in the numerical citizens, but which characterizes the society.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“... married women work and neglect their children because the duties of the homemaker become so depreciated that women feel compelled to take a job in order to hold the respect of the community. It is one thing if women work, as many of them must, to help support the family. It is quite another thing—it is destructive of woman’s freedom—if society forces her out of the home and into the labor market in order that she may respect herself and gain the respect of others.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)