Problem 70. Alphabetize by last name

Created by Cody Team

Solve Later

Given a list of names in a cell array, sort the list by the last name. So if

 list = {'Barney Google','Snuffy Smith','Dagwood Bumstead'};

then the output is

 alpha_list = {'Dagwood Bumstead','Barney Google','Snuffy Smith'}

Solve

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6086 Solutions
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Last Solution submitted on Jun 11, 2025

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8 Comments

8 Comments

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Swapnali Gujar on 11 Mar 2014

looks like there is problem with the 2nd test case result. The 'Cleve Molar' is shifted by 1 space in the ans

Wei-Rong Chen on 7 Apr 2015

This problem can be trickier if the input can allow different styles of name representation, e.g., 'FirstName LastName' and 'LastName, FirstName'.

Sanzhar Askaruly on 7 Jul 2019

be careful with 'John F. Kennedy' case..

Banister on 28 Jul 2019

The change in output format was a pain !

Bryan Lambo on 20 Dec 2019

This blew my mind. Finally got it.

Ahmed Nazir on 30 Sep 2020

Be careful with output format...

if length(alpha_list) > 5
alpha_list = alpha_list';
end

Brent on 16 Mar 2025

The 'Cleve Moler' name has an extra space in the assert list of alpha_names, which was causing a failed solution in Test Case 2. After cludging a solution to match that space, other solutions I tested were apparently not rejected for the same solution I achieved.

Christian Schröder on 17 Mar 2025

@Brent the extra space is be immaterial: it's outside the string. The problem with your earlier non-scoring solutions is the "F." in "John F. Kennedy", which your solutions mistakenly removed

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Problem 70. Alphabetize by last name

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Problem 70. Alphabetize by last name

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Last 200 Solutions

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