Chris Pine - Sorting an Array

pine_-_array_sort_02.rb

def sort arr #wrapper for rec_sort
  rec_sort arr, [] #if you are trying to sort an array, you must pass an empty array as second parameter
end

def rec_sort unsorted, sorted
	if unsorted.length <= 0 #if unsorted array length is less than or equal to zero
		return sorted #return array sorted
	end

	#if we get here, it means there are still strings to sort

	smallest = unsorted.pop #sets the variable "smallest" to equal the last element popped out from unsorted
	still_unsorted = [] #creates new array to hold unsorted elements

	unsorted.each do |tested_object| #do x for each of the elements inside unsorted
		if tested_object < smallest #starting from 0, if unsorted element is less than current value for smallest
			still_unsorted.push smallest #smallest is moved to the end of still_unsorted
			smallest = tested_object #and tested_object is now set to equal smallest, because it was less than previous value for smallest
		else
			still_unsorted.push tested_object #if tested object is not less than smallest, the tested_object is moved to the end of still_unsorted
		end
	end

	sorted.push smallest #puts the smallest element at the end of the sorted array

	rec_sort still_unsorted, sorted #calls rec_sort method again
end

puts sort(['a', 'c', 'b', 'd'])

Thanks @SeanBr, your comment got me past a blind spot that has plagued me for the last few days.