comparator.c

int goldberg_compare( const void *ap, const void bp ) {
  const char **aa = ap, **bb = bp;
  const char *a = *aa, *b = *bb;
  do {
    int achars, bchars;
    long aval, bval;
    int shorter, cmp;
    while( isspace(*a) ) ++a;
    while( isspace(*b) ) ++b;
    achars = strcspn( a, "0123456789" );
    bchars = strcspn( b, "0123456789" );
    shorter = min( achars, bchars );
    cmp = memcmp( a, b, shorter );
    if( cmp ) return cmp;
    if( achars != bchars ) return bchars - achars;
    a += achars;
    b += bchars;
    if( !*a || !*b ) return (!!*b) - (!!*a);
    aval = strtol( a, &a, 10 );
    bval = strtol( b, &b, 10 );
    if( aval != bval ) return bval - aval;
  } while(1);
}