Sort Issue -- other ways to approach without changing the container type from list

Question

  list.sort(students.begin(), students.end(), sortByLastName); //std:: list.
        cout << "Sorted names: \n"  << endl;
        while (i != students.end())
        cout << *i << endl;
        ++i;
     }
}

 error: missing template arguments before ‘.’ token
        list.sort(students.begin(), students.end(), sortByLastName);

if I use Std::sort with 
#include <algorithm> it gives me a 

Compilation failed due to following error(s).

In file included from /usr/include/c++/5/algorithm:62:0,
                 from main.cpp:14:
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algo.h: In instantiation of ‘void std::__sort(_RandomAccessIterator, _RandomAccessIterator, _Compare) [with _RandomAccessIterator = std::_List_iterator<DataType>; _Compare = __gnu_cxx::__ops::_Iter_comp_iter<bool (*)(DataType, DataType)>]’:
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algo.h:4729:18:   required from ‘void std::sort(_RAIter, _RAIter, _Compare) [with _RAIter = std::_List_iterator<DataType>; _Compare = bool (*)(DataType, DataType)]’
<span class="error_line" onclick="ide.gotoLine('main.cpp',79)">main.cpp:79:67</span>:   required from here
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algo.h:1964:22: error: no match for ‘operator-’ (operand types are ‘std::_List_iterator’ and ‘std::_List_iterator’)
     std::__lg(__last - __first) * 2,
                      ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algobase.h:67:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/bits/char_traits.h:39,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/ios:40,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/ostream:38,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/iostream:39,
                 from main.cpp:10:
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_iterator.h:333:5: note: candidate: template decltype ((__x.base() - __y.base())) std::operator-(const std::reverse_iterator<_Iterator>&, const std::reverse_iterator<_Iterator>&)
     operator-(const reverse_iterator<_Iterator>& __x,
     ^
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_iterator.h:333:5: note:   template argument deduction/substitution failed:
In file included from /usr/include/c++/5/algorithm:62:0,
                 from main.cpp:14:
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algo.h:1964:22: note:   ‘std::_List_iterator’ is not derived from ‘const std::reverse_iterator<_Iterator>’
     std::__lg(__last - __first) * 2,
                      ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algobase.h:67:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/bits/char_traits.h:39,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/ios:40,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/ostream:38,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/iostream:39,
                 from main.cpp:10:
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_iterator.h:387:5: note: candidate: template decltype ((__y.base() - __x.base())) std::operator-(const std::reverse_iterator<_Iterator>&, const std::reverse_iterator<_IteratorR>&)
     operator-(const reverse_iterator<_IteratorL>& __x,
     ^
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_iterator.h:387:5: note:   template argument deduction/substitution failed:
In file included from /usr/include/c++/5/algorithm:62:0,
                 from main.cpp:14:
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algo.h:1964:22: note:   ‘std::_List_iterator’ is not derived from ‘const std::reverse_iterator<_Iterator>’
     std::__lg(__last - __first) * 2,
                      ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algobase.h:67:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/bits/char_traits.h:39,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/ios:40,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/ostream:38,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/iostream:39,
                 from main.cpp:10:
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_iterator.h:1145:5: note: candidate: template decltype ((__x.base() - __y.base())) std::operator-(const std::move_iterator<_Iterator>&, const std::move_iterator<_IteratorR>&)
     operator-(const move_iterator<_IteratorL>& __x,
     ^
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_iterator.h:1145:5: note:   template argument deduction/substitution failed:
In file included from /usr/include/c++/5/algorithm:62:0,
                 from main.cpp:14:
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algo.h:1964:22: note:   ‘std::_List_iterator’ is not derived from ‘const std::move_iterator<_Iterator>’
     std::__lg(__last - __first) * 2,
                      ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algobase.h:67:0,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/bits/char_traits.h:39,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/ios:40,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/ostream:38,
                 from /usr/include/c++/5/iostream:39,
                 from main.cpp:10:
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_iterator.h:1152:5: note: candidate: template decltype ((__x.base() - __y.base())) std::operator-(const std::move_iterator<_Iterator>&, const std::move_iterator<_Iterator>&)
     operator-(const move_iterator<_Iterator>& __x,
     ^
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_iterator.h:1152:5: note:   template argument deduction/substitution failed:
In file included from /usr/include/c++/5/algorithm:62:0,
                 from main.cpp:14:
/usr/include/c++/5/bits/stl_algo.h:1964:22: note:   ‘std::_List_iterator’ is not derived from ‘const std::move_iterator<_Iterator>’
     std::__lg(__last - __first) * 2,

Answer 1

Your issue is that you are calling the sort() algorithm wrong. In the code below, it is written correctly.

#include <algorithm>
#include <list>

using namesapce std;

int main()
{
    list<int> myList = {1, 3, 5, 2, 10}; // Make a new list
    
    sort(myList.begin(), myList.end()); // Sort the list
}

If you wish to call the sort() member function for a list container, list.sort(), it is declared with either 1 or no parameters. You also wouldn't need to include the algorithm header file, as list.sort() is part of the list header.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

You cannot use std::sort for std::list. That is because std::list doesn't allow random access, but std::sort requires random access iterator. If you really want to use std::sort, use std::vector instead of the std::list.