Sort method in JavaScript- How and when to use it?

Hey readers, in this article we will be discussing how to use the sort method in JavaScript in a step-wise, efficient manner. If you are a beginner and want to learn JavaScript then do check out the course on Codedamn.

Introduction

JavaScript is one of the most used languages when it comes to building web applications as it allows developers to wrap HTML and CSS code in it to make web apps interactive. It is also used for making animations on websites and has a large community on GitHub. JavaScript has tons of libraries, one of which is React which we will be covering in this article later. 

Use cases: 

• Building web server and its interactive functions.
• Animations and graphics, adding special effects to web components.
• Validating forms and exception errors.
• Adding behavior and functionalities to web pages.

Since JavaScript is a scripting language, it works without any libraries. Developers are free to write JavaScript language code anywhere and can still run it in the browser. There is no structure in JavaScript, the browser executes each line of the code from top to down.

The compare() function is used to sort the array in a given order, and the arr.sort() method is used to sort it. If the method isn’t specified, the array is sorted in ascending order.

The sort() method returns the sorted array after sorting the elements of an array. The ascending sort order is determined by transforming the elements into strings and comparing their sequences of UTF-16 code unit values.

Syntax:

arr.sort(compareFunction)

parameters: As mentioned above and described below, this procedure accepts only one parameter.

compareFunction: This argument is used to sort the elements in various order and according to different qualities.

compareFunction(a,b) < 0

Then, in the response, a comes before b.

compareFunction(a,b) > 0

Then, in the answer, b appears before a.

compareFunction(a,b) = 0

The order of a and b is then preserved.

Return value: The reference to the sorted original array is returned by this procedure.

The JavaScript Array sort() technique is demonstrated in the following examples:

Example 1: The sort() method puts the members of the array in ascending order in this example.

var arr = [2, 5, 8, 1, 4]
document.write(arr.sort());
document.write(arr);

Example 2: In this example, the elements of the array are sorted using the sort() method, with the function applied to each element.

var arr = [2, 5, 8, 1, 4]
document.write(arr.sort(function(a, b) {
return a + 2 * b;
}));
document.write(arr);

Advantage of the sort function

Sort is a term used to describe the process of organizing data in a specific order to make it easier to find information. Names and contact information, for example, maybe organized alphabetically to allow someone seeking a specific name to check if it’s available.

Sorting algorithms are divided into several categories.

There are three types of sorting algorithms.

1. Internal sorting algorithms are sorting algorithms that are used for a tiny set of data. The main memory is the only one that is used. Bubble sort, insertion sort, and quicksort are among the examples.

2. External sorting algorithms: These are sorting algorithms that can be used on very large datasets. External storage devices, such as hard drives and flash discs, are used as a result. Merge sort is a good example.

3) Sorting algorithms’ efficiency

Some sorting algorithms are better than others in terms of efficiency. The following performance measures are commonly used to determine the success of a sorting algorithm:

Time complexity refers to the amount of time it takes a computer to sort data using an algorithm.

The amount of computer memory required by the computer to accomplish sorting based on an algorithm is known as memory complexity.

Conclusion

This was about the sort() method in JavaSript using HTML. If you want to learn more about Javascript, do check out the article and course on Codedamn of javascript along with the course. Hope you liked this, if you have any queries or suggestions do let us know in the comments. 

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