sort

Summary

Sorts an Array.

Syntax

sort( sortFunction )

sortFunction: Optional. The name of the function used to determine the order of the elements. If omitted, the elements are sorted in ascending, ASCII character order.

Return Value

The sorted array.

Examples

The following example shows how to use the sort method.

var a = new Array(4, 11, 2, 10, 3, 1);

 var b = a.sort();
 document.write(b);
 document.write("<br/>");

 // This is ASCII character order.
 // Output: 1,10,11,2,3,4)

 // Sort the array elements with a function that compares array elements.
 b = a.sort(CompareForSort);
 document.write(b);
 document.write("<br/>");
 // Output: 1,2,3,4,10,11.

 // Sorts array elements in ascending order numerically.
 function CompareForSort(first, second)
 {
     if (first == second)
         return 0;
     if (first < second)
         return -1;
     else
         return 1;
 }

Remarks

The sort method sorts the Array object in place; no new Array object is created during execution.

If you supply a function in the sortFunction argument, it must return one of the following values:

A negative value if the first argument passed is less than the second argument.
Zero if the two arguments are equivalent.
A positive value if the first argument is greater than the second argument.

Attributions

Microsoft Developer Network: Article