JavaScript : Sorting Arrays

Sorting arrays in JavaScript is a common operation that can be accomplished using various methods. Here are some common techniques for sorting arrays:

1. sort()

The sort() method sorts the elements of an array in place and returns the sorted array. By default, it sorts the elements as strings.

let fruits = ['banana', 'apple', 'orange', 'grape']; fruits.sort(); console.log(fruits); // Output: ['apple', 'banana', 'grape', 'orange']

2. Custom Sorting with sort()

You can provide a custom comparison function to the sort() method to specify how to sort elements.

let numbers = [10, 5, 20, 2, 15]; numbers.sort((a, b) => a - b); // Ascending order console.log(numbers); // Output: [2, 5, 10, 15, 20]

numbers.sort((a, b) => b - a); // Descending order console.log(numbers); // Output: [20, 15, 10, 5, 2]

3. reverse()

The reverse() method reverses the order of the elements in an array.

let fruits = ['banana', 'apple', 'orange', 'grape']; fruits.reverse(); console.log(fruits); // Output: ['grape', 'orange', 'apple', 'banana']

4. Sorting Objects by Property

You can sort an array of objects based on a specific property using the sort() method with a custom comparison function.

let people = [ { name: 'John', age: 30 }, { name: 'Alice', age: 25 }, { name: 'Bob', age: 35 } ];

people.sort((a, b) => a.age - b.age); console.log(people); /* Output: [ { name: 'Alice', age: 25 }, { name: 'John', age: 30 }, { name: 'Bob', age: 35 } ] */

5. Sorting with localeCompare()

For sorting strings in a locale-sensitive manner, you can use the `localeCompare()` method.

let fruits = ['banane', 'apfel', 'orange', 'grape']; fruits.sort((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b, 'de')); console.log(fruits); // Output: ['apfel', 'banane', 'grape', 'orange']