Pset3: Tideman sort_pairs not work

Question

I have been trying to implement sort_pairs function using selection sort algorithm. After testing for every case, the sort_pairs is returning right answer but check50 is marking it as wrong.

for (int i = 0; i < pair_count - 1; i++)
    {
        winner_index = pairs[i].winner;
        loser_index = pairs[i].loser;
        diff = preferences[winner_index][loser_index];
        int max_index = i;
        for (int j = i+1; j < pair_count; j++)
        {
            winner_index1 = pairs[j].winner;
            loser_index1 = pairs[j].loser;
            int diff2 = preferences[winner_index1][loser_index1];
            if (diff2 > diff)
            {
                max_index = j;
            }

        }
        if (i != max_index)
        {
            pairs[i].winner = winner_index1;
            pairs[i].loser = loser_index1;

            pairs[max_index].winner = winner_index;
            pairs[max_index].loser = loser_index;
        }
    }

Here's the code for reference.

Before Sorting 
c a 6
b c 5
a b 7
After Sorting 
a b 7
c a 6
b c 5

This is what I am getting as an output where a,b,c are candidates and the numbers are preferences.

Answer 1

Check with strengths 1, 3, 2, in that order, with the highest value not being last.

When you update max_index, you should also update diff. Otherwise, a later pair might be chosen that's stronger than the initial pair, but not the overall strongest.

Alternatively, directly use pairs[max_index] for the comparison.

Your swap action also relies on winner_index1 and loser_index1 to represent the pair to swap with, but they are the pair checked last, which is not necessarily same as pairs[max_index] in either version.

You could use a temporary variable for swapping, like

pair temp = pairs[i];
pairs[i] = pair[max_index];
pairs[max_index] = temp;