How can I sort a javascript array of objects numerically and then alphabetically?

Question

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Sorting objects in an array by a field value in JavaScript

How can I sort an array of objects numerically (by id) then alphabetically (by name)?

The current way is providing invalid output.

This is the object i'm trying to sort through

var items = [
    {
        "id": 165,
        "name": "a"
    },
    {
        "id": 236,
        "name": "c"
    },
    {
        "id": 376,
        "name": "b"
    },
    {
        "id": 253,
        "name": "f"
    },
    {
        "id": 235,
        "name": "e"
    },
    {
        "id": 24,
        "name": "d"
    },
    {
        "id": 26,
        "name": "d"
    }
]

and the way i'm trying to sort

items.sort(function(a, b) {
    return (a.id - b.id);
}).sort(function(a, b) {
    return (a.name - b.name);
});

here is the jsfiddle.

http://jsfiddle.net/jh4xb/

EDIT: Sorry for the confusion, I've been so confused by this problem for a while.

What I'm trying to accomplish is to sort by the highest id first, and then sort alphabetically so in the end it should look like:

var items = [
    {
        "id": 376,
        "name": "b"
    },
    {
        "id": 253,
        "name": "f"
    },
    {
        "id": 236,
        "name": "c"
    },
    {
        "id": 235,
        "name": "e"
    },
    {
        "id": 165,
        "name": "a"
    },
    {
        "id": 26,
        "name": "d"
    },
    {
        "id": 24,
        "name": "d"
    }
]

You might need a better example of what you are trying to accomplish because in this example, sorting by `id` first doesn't make sense since all of the `id`s and `name`s are unique. It's equivalent to just sort by `name`. — Bill, Oct 15 '12 at 16:41
Agreed - what exactly do you want the ordering semantics to be here? — Pointy, Oct 15 '12 at 16:42
Not sure what you're hoping to achieve by sorting the list twice. And when you do `return (a.name - b.name)` you're attempting to subtract one string from another. Ain't gonna happen. (You probably want [localeCompare](http://www.tutorialspoint.com/javascript/string_localecompare.htm) instead.) — Elliot Bonneville, Oct 15 '12 at 16:43
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1129216/sort-array-of-objects-by-string-property-value-in-javascript/50600956#50600956 — Harun Or Rashid, Jul 03 '18 at 13:06
The title of the question is very search friendly. The example is flipped compared to what the title says. — OXiGEN, Mar 25 '22 at 13:02

raina77ow · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-15T17:01:25.673

97

I think it's better done just with...

items.sort(function(a, b) { 
  return a.id - b.id  ||  a.name.localeCompare(b.name);
});

The second sort will basically negate the first one, so you have to do it once. )

a.id - b.id || a.name.localeCompare(b.name) expression will first compare the ids; only if they are equal, it will compare the names (and return the result of this comparison).

If you need to reverse the ordering, swap the positions (b.id - a.id, etc.) - or just negate the whole thing:

items.sort(function(a, b) { 
  return - ( a.id - b.id  ||  a.name.localeCompare(b.name) );
});

Here's the JSFiddle (have to simplify the data a bit to show my point).

edited Oct 15 '12 at 17:01

answered Oct 15 '12 at 16:43

raina77ow

103,633
15
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1

Just what I needed! Sorry I wasn't so clear but this is perfect! Thanks! – Dennis Martinez Oct 15 '12 at 17:03
Very nice! Thank you for this solution @raina77ow – Arsman Ahmad Mar 23 '22 at 10:40

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 15 '12 at 17:00

Create a general function to sort it anyway you want. Check the dynamicSort function below

var items = [
{
 "id": 165,
 "name": "a"},
{
 "id": 236,
 "name": "b"},
{
 "id": 376,
 "name": "c"},
{
 "id": 253,
 "name": "d"},
{
 "id": 235,
 "name": "e"},
{
  "id": 24,
  "name": "f"}
];

function dynamicSort(property) {
   return function(a, b) {
       return (a[property] < b[property]) ? -1 : (a[property] > b[property]) ? 1 : 0;
   }
}

items.sort(dynamicSort('name')).sort(dynamicSort('id'));
console.log(items);
items.sort(dynamicSort('id')).sort(dynamicSort('name')); 
console.log(items);

Jeremy J Starcher · Answer 3 · 2012-10-15T16:50:14.627

5

IF you mean that you wanted them sorted by id and if the id matches, you want them sorted by name then use this:

items.sort(function(a, b) {
    if (a.id !== b.id) {
        return a.id - b.id
    }
    if (a.name === b.name) {
      return 0;
    }
    return a.name > b.name ? 1 : -1;
});

Otherwise your question is unclear.

edited Oct 15 '12 at 16:50

answered Oct 15 '12 at 16:43

Jeremy J Starcher

23,369
6
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score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 15 '12 at 16:44

3

your problem is how you're sorting the letters.
a.name - b.name

isn't doing what you think. It's not evaluating them in lexigraphical order. replace it with

a.name < b.name ? -1 : 1;

answered Oct 15 '12 at 16:44

BostonJohn

2,631
2
26
48

Why does your code return `1` if the names are equal? It should return `0` – Bergi Oct 15 '12 at 16:54
you're right. Doing it this way does not guarantee that equal elements will retain their original ordering. – BostonJohn Oct 15 '12 at 16:58

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 15 '12 at 16:42

I'm not seeing any errors in Chrome, but it's not sorting correctly.

If I change your sort code to this:

var firstRun = items.sort(function(a, b) {
    return (a.id - b.id);
});
var secondRun = firstRun.sort(function(a, b) {
    return (a.name - b.name);
});

console.log(secondRun);

I believe it's sorting correctly. Your example doesn't really need to do the second sort as each number (id) is different. But when I make b, d and e all have an ID of 235, it sorts fine.

How can I sort a javascript array of objects numerically and then alphabetically?

5 Answers5

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