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Alphabetic Sort Array sort() Array reverse() Array toSorted() Array toReversed() Sorting Objects

Numeric Sort Numeric Sort Random Sort Math.min() Math.max() Home made Min() Home made Max()

Complete JavaScript Array Reference

See Also:

Array Tutorial

Array Basic Methods

Array Search Methods

Array Iteration Methods

Array Reference

Sorting an Array

The sort() method sorts an array alphabetically:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"]; fruits.sort(); Try it Yourself »

Reversing an Array

The reverse() method reverses the elements in an array:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"]; fruits.reverse(); Try it Yourself »

By combining sort() and reverse(), you can sort an array in descending order:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"]; fruits.sort(); fruits.reverse(); Try it Yourself »

JavaScript Array toSorted() Method

ES2023 added the toSorted() method as a safe way to sort an array without altering the original array.

The difference between toSorted() and sort() is that the first method creates a new array, keeping the original array unchanged, while the last method alters the original array.

Example

const months = ["Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr"]; const sorted = months.toSorted(); Try it Yourself »

JavaScript Array toReversed() Method

ES2023 added the toReversed() method as a safe way to reverse an array without altering the original array.

The difference between toReversed() and reverse() is that the first method creates a new array, keeping the original array unchanged, while the last method alters the original array.

Example

const months = ["Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr"]; const reversed = months.toReversed(); Try it Yourself »

Numeric Sort

By default, the sort() function sorts values as strings.

This works well for strings ("Apple" comes before "Banana").

If numbers are sorted as strings, "25" is bigger than "100", because "2" is bigger than "1".

Because of this, the sort() method will produce incorrect result when sorting numbers.

You can fix this by providing a compare function:

Example

const points = [40, 100, 1, 5, 25, 10]; points.sort(function(a, b){return a - b}); Try it Yourself »

Use the same trick to sort an array descending:

Example

const points = [40, 100, 1, 5, 25, 10]; points.sort(function(a, b){return b - a}); Try it Yourself »

The Compare Function

The purpose of the compare function is to define an alternative sort order.

The compare function should return a negative, zero, or positive value, depending on the arguments:

function(a, b){return a - b}

When the sort() function compares two values, it sends the values to the compare function, and sorts the values according to the returned (negative, zero, positive) value.

If the result is negative, a is sorted before b.

If the result is positive, b is sorted before a.

If the result is 0, no changes are done with the sort order of the two values.

Example:

The compare function compares all the values in the array, two values at a time (a, b).

When comparing 40 and 100, the sort() method calls the compare function(40, 100).

The function calculates 40 - 100 (a - b), and since the result is negative (-60), the sort function will sort 40 as a value lower than 100.

You can use this code snippet to experiment with numerically and alphabetically sorting:

<button onclick="myFunction1()">Sort Alphabetically</button><button onclick="myFunction2()">Sort Numerically</button><p id="demo"></p> <script>const points = [40, 100, 1, 5, 25, 10]; document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = points;function myFunction1() { points.sort(); document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = points;}function myFunction2() { points.sort(function(a, b){return a - b}); document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = points;} </script> Try it Yourself »

Sorting an Array in Random Order

Using a sort function, like explained above, you can sort an numeric array in random order

Example

const points = [40, 100, 1, 5, 25, 10]; points.sort(function(){return 0.5 - Math.random()});

Try it Yourself »

The Fisher Yates Method

The points.sort() method in the example above is not accurate. It will favor some numbers over others.

The most popular correct method, is called the Fisher Yates shuffle, and was introduced in data science as early as 1938!

In JavaScript the method can be translated to this:

Example

const points = [40, 100, 1, 5, 25, 10]; for (let i = points.length -1; i > 0; i--) { let j = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i+1)); let k = points[i]; points[i] = points[j]; points[j] = k;}

Try it Yourself »

Find the Lowest (or Highest) Array Value

There are no built-in functions for finding the max or min value in an array.

To find the lowest or highest value you have 3 options:

• Sort the array and read the first or last element
• Use Math.min() or Math.max()
• Write a home made function

Find Min or Max with sort()

After you have sorted an array, you can use the index to obtain the highest and lowest values.

Sort Ascending:

Example

const points = [40, 100, 1, 5, 25, 10]; points.sort(function(a, b){return a - b}); // now points[0] contains the lowest value // and points[points.length-1] contains the highest value Try it Yourself »

Sort Descending:

Example

const points = [40, 100, 1, 5, 25, 10]; points.sort(function(a, b){return b - a}); // now points[0] contains the highest value // and points[points.length-1] contains the lowest value Try it Yourself »

Note

Sorting a whole array is a very inefficient method if you only want to find the highest (or lowest) value.

Using Math.min() on an Array

You can use Math.min.apply to find the lowest number in an array:

Example

function myArrayMin(arr) { return Math.min.apply(null, arr);}

Try it Yourself »

Math.min.apply(null, [1, 2, 3]) is equivalent to Math.min(1, 2, 3).

Using Math.max() on an Array

You can use Math.max.apply to find the highest number in an array:

Example

function myArrayMax(arr) { return Math.max.apply(null, arr);}

Try it Yourself »

Math.max.apply(null, [1, 2, 3]) is equivalent to Math.max(1, 2, 3).

JavaScript Array Minimum Method

There is no built-in function for finding the lowest value in a JavaScript array.

The fastest code to find the lowest number is to use a home made method.

This function loops through an array comparing each value with the lowest value found:

Example (Find Min)

function myArrayMin(arr) { let len = arr.length; let min = Infinity; while (len--) { if (arr[len] < min) { min = arr[len]; } } return min;}

Try it Yourself »

JavaScript Array Maximum Method

There is no built-in function for finding the highest value in a JavaScript array.

The fastest code to find the highest number is to use a home made method.

This function loops through an array comparing each value with the highest value found:

Example (Find Max)

function myArrayMax(arr) { let len = arr.length; let max = -Infinity; while (len--) { if (arr[len] > max) { max = arr[len]; } } return max;}

Try it Yourself »

Sorting Object Arrays

JavaScript arrays often contain objects:

Example

const cars = [ {type:"Volvo", year:2016}, {type:"Saab", year:2001}, {type:"BMW", year:2010}];

Even if objects have properties of different data types, the sort() method can be used to sort the array.

The solution is to write a compare function to compare the property values:

Example

cars.sort(function(a, b){return a.year - b.year}); Try it Yourself »

Comparing string properties is a little more complex:

Example

cars.sort(function(a, b){ let x = a.type.toLowerCase(); let y = b.type.toLowerCase(); if (x < y) {return -1;} if (x > y) {return 1;} return 0;}); Try it Yourself »

Stable Array sort()

ES2019 revised the Array sort() method.

Before 2019, the specification allowed unstable sorting algorithms such as QuickSort.

After ES2019, browsers must use a stable sorting algorithm:

When sorting elements on a value, the elements must keep their relative position to other elements with the same value.

Example

const myArr = [ {name:"X00",price:100 }, {name:"X01",price:100 }, {name:"X02",price:100 }, {name:"X03",price:100 }, {name:"X04",price:110 }, {name:"X05",price:110 }, {name:"X06",price:110 }, {name:"X07",price:110 } ]; Try it Yourself »

In the example above, when sorting on price, the result is not allowed to come out with the names in an other relative position like this:

X01 100 X03 100 X00 100 X02 100 X05 110 X04 110 X06 110 X07 110

Complete JavaScript Reference

For a complete reference to all JavaScript properties and methods, with full descriptions and many examples, go to:

W3Schools' Full JavaScript Reference.

The reference inludes all JavaScript updates from 1999 to 2025.

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