(╯°□°)╯ .sort()

The sort() function is used to sort data within an array or an array of objects.

Example 1

When you want sort numbers from lowest to highest. It is as easy as just using the .sort() function . This is an array of numbers.

const num = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9];
const lowToHighNum = num.sort();

// [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ]

When you want to sort the numbers from highest to lowest, make use of an if function (also called the ternary operator). If a is bigger than b, return -1. If a is smaller than b, return +1.

 const highToLowNum = num.sort((a, b) => {
    if (a > b) {
      return -1;
    }
    if (a < b) {
      return +1;
    }
    else {
      return 0;
    }
  });

//  [ 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ]

Example 2

When you want to sort a string in an array alphabetically. It is also as easy as just using the .sort() function.

const letters = ["c", "m", "a", "p", "b", "f"];
const orderLetters = letters.sort();

// [ "a", "b", "c", "f", "m", "p" ]

When you want to sort the array in an achronological manner, use the ternary operator (if statement).

const orderLetters = letters.sort((a, b) => {
    if (a > b) {
      return -1;
    }
    if (a < b) {
      return +1;
    } else {
      return 0;
    }
  });

  // [ "p", "m", "f", "c", "b", "a" ]

Example 4

When we want to sort an array of objects. Here we have an object of food.

const food = [
    { name: "apple", healthy: true },
    { name: "pizza", healthy: false },
    { name: "broccoli", healthy: true },
  ];

We want to order the food names alphabetically within the array of objects.

const orderFood = food.sort((a, b) => {
    if (a.name > b.name) {
      return +1;
    }
    if (a.name < b.name) {
      return -1;
    } else {
      return 0;
    }
  });

// { name: "apple", healthy: true }
// { name: "broccoli", healthy: true }
// { name: "pizza", healthy: false }