Efficient 2D Array Sorting

1. Problem Analysis

The user has provided a snippet of code that generates a random 2D array and sorts it along the rows based on the values in the second column. The main goal is to efficiently sort the array along a specific column.

2. Data Structure Selection

For this problem, a suitable data structure to efficiently handle the sorting along the second column of the 2D array is the 2D Array or Matrix along with an Index Array.

Rationale:

• The 2D Array stores the data matrix with rows and columns.
• The Index Array stores the indices after sorting the data based on the second column.

3. Template Generation

Below are language-agnostic templates for the recommended data structures:

2D Array or Matrix:

2D Array:
[
    [val11, val12, val13, ...],
    [val21, val22, val23, ...],
    ...
]

Index Array:

Index Array:
[0, 2, 1, 3, 4]

4. Description and Documentation

• 2D Array or Matrix: Represents a standard matrix data structure with rows and columns. It is efficient for storing tabular data like the random 2D array generated by the user's code.

• Index Array: Contains indices that define the desired order of the rows after sorting based on the values in the second column. This allows for quick access to elements in the sorted order.

• Code Adaptation: These templates can be easily translated into various programming languages like Python, Java, C++, etc. The 2D array stores the data, while the index array facilitates sorting based on the second column efficiently. Encapsulation of these structures can enhance reusability and maintainability of the code.

By leveraging a combination of a 2D array/matrix and an index array, the sorting operation based on the second column can be achieved efficiently in various programming contexts.