Sorting numbers numerically

Question

var a = [[11,"b"], [2,"b"], [11,"a"], [1,"a"], [1,"a"]];
a.sort();
alert(JSON.stringify(a));

gives:

[[1,"a"],[1,"a"],[11,"a"],[11,"b"],[2,"b"]]

how do I sort numerically?

kind user · Answer 1 · 2017-11-11T12:24:38.680

0

Assuming that the first element of the inner arrays will be always a number, which basing on you want to sort your array, you can just compare the first [0] from the inner arrays.

Note: a[0] - b[0] will sort elements in an ascending order.

const a = [[11,"b"], [2,"b"], [11,"a"], [1,"a"], [1,"a"]];

const r = a.slice().sort((a, b) => a[0] - b[0]);

console.log(JSON.stringify(r));

edited Nov 11 '17 at 12:24

answered Nov 11 '17 at 12:18

kind user

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[`Array#sort`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/sort) sorts in situ. the return of the same array looks like to get a new sorted array, which does not work like this. – Nina Scholz Nov 11 '17 at 12:23

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 11 '17 at 12:21

You can use underscoreJs _.sortby function

var a = [[11,"b"], [2,"b"], [11,"a"], [1,"a"], [1,"a"]];
var b = _.sortBy(a,function(val){
    return val[0];
});
console.log(JSON.stringify(b));

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lodash@4.17.4/lodash.min.js"></script>

Sorting numbers numerically

2 Answers2