static void

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Reflection;
 
namespace Library.Data
{
    /// <summary>
    /// A generic comparer for List&lt;T&gt;.Sort(IComparer).
    /// For strings, use <see cref="System.StringComparer"/>
    /// </summary>
    public class GenericComparer<T> : IComparer<T>
    {
        private readonly MethodBase methodInfo; //cache the method
        private readonly bool descending;
 
        /// <summary>
        /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="GenericComparer&lt;T&gt;"/> class with ascending sort.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="propertyName">Name of the property.</param>
        public GenericComparer(string propertyName)
            : this(propertyName, false)
        {
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="GenericComparer&lt;T&gt;"/> class specifying sort direction
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="propertyName">Name of the property.</param>
        /// <param name="descending">if set to <c>true</c> descending.</param>
        public GenericComparer(string propertyName, bool descending)
        {
            methodInfo = typeof(T).GetProperty(propertyName).GetGetMethod();
            this.descending = descending;
        }
 
        #region IComparer<T> Members
 
        /// <summary>
        /// Compares two objects and returns a value indicating whether one is less than, equal to, or greater than the other.
        /// </summary>
        public int Compare(T x, T y)
        {
            int result = 0;
            if (x == null)
                result = -1;
            else if (y == null)
                result = 1;
            else
                result = CompareValue(
                    methodInfo.Invoke(x, null),
                    methodInfo.Invoke(y, null));
            if (descending) result = -result;
            return result;
        }
 
        /// <summary>
        /// Compares the value using <see cref="IComparable"/> or ToString()
        /// </summary>
        private static int CompareValue(object x, object y)
        {
            //check null values
            if (x == null && y == null) return 0;
            if (x == null) return -1;
            if (y == null) return 1;
            //check comparable
            IComparable cx = x as IComparable;
            if (cx != null) //they are IComparable
                return cx.CompareTo((IComparable)y);
            //not comparable, compare ToString
            if (!x.Equals(y))
                return x.ToString().CompareTo(y.ToString());
            return 0;
        }
 
        #endregion
    }
}