"Ahh, finally Life is sorted !!" says people. What does that mean? I don't get it. However, I have learned Array.prototype.sort() aka sort(). Come on, let's sort this out ;)

sort() is a higher-order function in JavaScript that implements sorting of elements in array-like objects. Generally, it is used on arrays. It is an in-place method which means that the output array(sorted) is not stored in a new array but the same input array is manipulated.

Syntax:

array.sort() OR array.sort(compare_func)

array.sort()

By default, sorting is ascending and done based on a comparison of their UTF-16 code values.

let arr = [70, 9, 8, 45, 50, 54, 66];
console.log(arr.sort());

Output:

[ 45, 50, 54, 66, 70, 8, 9 ]

Output is not sorted numerically into ascending order. Since, the first digit of 70 i.e. 7 < 8 after character encoding which is why 70 is before 8.

array.sort(compare_func)

To overcome the limitation of sorting a numeric-value array, we pass a function as an argument into sort() . This function is called compare function or order function.

let arr = [70, 9, 8, 45, 50, 54, 66];
arr.sort(function (a, b) {
    return a-b;
});
console.log(arr);

Output:

[ 8, 9, 45, 50, 54, 66, 70 ]

The anonymous function passed into sort(), sorts the numbers into ascending order. The above function can be simply replaced by this:

function sortNums(a, b) {
    if(a>b) {
        return 1;
    }
    else if(a<b) {
        return -1;
    }
    else if(a === b) {
        return 0;
    }
}

If previous element a is greater than next element b then b is placed before a, and if previous element a is lesser than next element b then a is placed before b . If a and b are same then no change.

undefined is sorted at the end

let demoele;
let arr = [70, 9, 8, demoele, 45, 50, 54, 66];
console.log(arr.sort((a, b) => a-b ));

Output:

[ 8, 9, 45, 50, 54, 66, 70, undefined ]

Puzzle

I have created a puzzle as a mini-project in which I have implemented sort() in the code, as well as the puzzle, it will test your learning from this blog. I assure you it would be easy and fun. Here's the puzzle link:

Puzzle on sort()

If you have any doubts let me know in the comments section below. Do tell me what you like and dislike about this blog.

Thank you for reading :)