Help with using mergesort to sort a list of names alphabetically?

Hi, I'm trying to sort a list of names alphabetically, case-insensitive by using the mergesort technique.
I wrote this code and when I trace it through on paper with an example array of names, it should work, but when I run it with an actual txt file, it's not correctly alphabetical.
I'd appreciate it if someone could take a look at my code and give me some ideas on what my problem might be.
Thanks in advance! (note: I also posted this question to java-forums.org and coderranch.org, as I've been working on this little problem for over five hours and am in desperate need of some help!)

Code :

---

public static void mergeSort(String[] names)  
    {  
        if (names.length >= 2)  
        {  
            String[] left = new String[names.length/2];  
            String[] right = new String[names.length-names.length/2];  
 
            for (int i = 0; i < left.length; i++)  
            {  
                left[i] = names[i];  
            }  
            for (int i = 0; i < right.length; i++)  
            {     
                right[i] = names[i + names.length/2];  
            }  
 
            mergeSort(left);  
            mergeSort(right);  
            merge(names, left, right);  
        }  
    }  
 
   // pre : result is empty; list1 is sorted; list2 is sorted  
   // post: result contains result of merging sorted lists;  
   // add merge method below  
 
    public static void merge(String[] names, String[] left, String[] right)  
    {  
        int i1 = 0;  
        int i2 = 0;  
 
        for (int i = 0; i < names.length; i++)  
        {  
            if (i2 >= right.length || (i1 < left.length && left[i1].compareToIgnoreCase(right[i1])<0))  
            {  
                names[i] = left[i1];  
                i1++;  
            } else  
            {  
                names[i] = right[i2];  
                i2++;                 
            }  
        }  
    }     
}

---

Can you post the contents of the list before the sort and after the sort so we can see what the code does?

Have you stepped through this with a debugger, or at least added some print statements, to figure out the flow of the program?

And would you mind linking to those other posts? For all we know, this was answered hours ago...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Norm

Can you post the contents of the list before the sort and after the sort so we can see what the code does?

---

Hi, yes, I created a "test" file, since the original file was too large to look at carefully.

The list would make a array {M, B, J, A, Z, C} without sorting

After being merge sorted, the array should look like {A, B, C, J, M, Z}, but instead it looks like {A, C, Z, B, J, M}

I've gone through the code step by step countless times and I can't seem to figure out what's wrong.

Thanks for any help!

And when you stepped through the code, at what point does the code behave differently from what you'd expect?

That's what's confusing me, I traced the whole thing with that test run on paper, and I get the output I'm shooting for.
But not when I compile and run it. Please help!!

Right. That's why I'm asking you to step through the actual code with a debugger or even some print statements to figure out when the actual program differs from what you expect on paper and pencil. You're asking us to debug your program for you. I'm trying to get you to debug it yourself. Teach a man to fish, and all that.

Recommended reading: http://www.javaprogrammingforums.com...t-println.html

Try a simple input of Strings in reverse order so you can easily see what is happen at each step.
{"Z","Y","X","W","V", "U"}

I suspect you will get something like: {X, Y, Z, U ,V , W}