Sorting objects in an array by a field value in JavaScript

This script allows you to do just that unless you want to write your own comparison function or sorter:

http://www.thomasfrank.se/sorting_things.html

If you have duplicate last names you might sort those by first name-

obj.sort(function(a,b){
  if(a.last_nom< b.last_nom) return -1;
  if(a.last_nom >b.last_nom) return 1;
  if(a.first_nom< b.first_nom) return -1;
  if(a.first_nom >b.first_nom) return 1;
  return 0;
}

Instead of using a custom comparison function, you could also create an object type with custom toString() method (which is invoked by the default comparison function):

function Person(firstName, lastName) {
    this.firtName = firstName;
    this.lastName = lastName;
}

Person.prototype.toString = function() {
    return this.lastName + ', ' + this.firstName;
}

var persons = [ new Person('Lazslo', 'Jamf'), ...]
persons.sort();

You can also create a dynamic sort function that sorts objects by their value that you pass:

function dynamicSort(property) {
    var sortOrder = 1;
    if(property[0] === "-") {
        sortOrder = -1;
        property = property.substr(1, property.length - 1);
    }
    return function (a,b) {
        var result = (a[property] < b[property]) ? -1 : (a[property] > b[property]) ? 1 : 0;
        return result * sortOrder;
    }
}

So you can have an array of objects like this:

var People = [
    {Name: "Name", Surname: "Surname"},
    {Name:"AAA", Surname:"ZZZ"},
    {Name: "Name", Surname: "AAA"}
];

...and it will work when you do:

People.sort(dynamicSort("Name"));
People.sort(dynamicSort("Surname"));
People.sort(dynamicSort("-Surname"));

I wouldn't recommend changing a native object prototype but just to give an example so you can implement it on your own objects (For the environments that support it, you can also use Object.defineProperty, which doesn't have the negative side-effects of fiddling with a native object's prototype):

Array.prototype.sortBy = function(property) {
    //Please don't just copy-paste this code.
    //See the explanation at the end. A lot could break.
    return this.sort(dynamicSort(property))
}

then you can do stuff like:

People.sortBy("Name");

Hope it helps.

You can use the function below to generate sort functions with multiple sort parameters.

function dynamicSortMultiple() {
    /*
     * save the arguments object as it will be overwritten
     * note that arguments object is an array-like object
     * consisting of the names of the properties to sort by
     */
    var props = arguments;
    return function (obj1, obj2) {
        var i = 0, result = 0, numberOfProperties = props.length;
        /* try getting a different result from 0 (equal)
         * as long as we have extra properties to compare
         */
        while(result === 0 && i < numberOfProperties) {
            result = dynamicSort(props[i])(obj1, obj2);
            i++;
        }
        return result;
    }
}

Which would enable you to do something like this:

People.sort(dynamicSortMultiple("Name", "-Surname"));

(Implementation which is just below is inspired from Mike R's answer) *(my above comment on fiddling with a native object prototype still applies)*

Prototype implementation would be something like the following (Here's a working example):

//Don't just copy-paste this code. You will break the "for-in" loops
!function() {
    function _dynamicSortMultiple(attr) {
       /* dynamicSortMultiple function body comes here */
    }
    function _dynamicSort(property) {
        /* dynamicSort function body comes here */
    }
    Array.prototype.sortBy = function() {
        return this.sort(_dynamicSortMultiple.apply(null, arguments));
    }
}();

Please use this on your classes (functions) only (I can't stress this enough). If you're targeting IE v9.0 and up then, as I previously mentioned, use Object.defineProperty like this (working example):

//Won't work below IE9, but totally safe otherwise
!function() {
    function _dynamicSortMultiple(attr) {
       /* dynamicSortMultiple function body comes here */
    }
    function _dynamicSort(property) {
        /* dynamicSort function body comes here */
    }
    Object.defineProperty(Array.prototype, "sortBy", {
        enumerable: false,
        writable: true,
        value: function() {
            return this.sort(_dynamicSortMultiple.apply(null, arguments));
        }
    });
}();

All those prototype fun enables this:

People.sortBy("Name", "-Surname");

If you use the direct prototype access method (Object.defineProperty is fine) and other code does not check hasOwnProperty, kittens die! Ok, to be honest, no harm comes to any kitten really but probably things will break and every other developer in your team will hate you:

See that last "SortBy"? Yeah. Not cool. Use Object.defineProperty where you can, and leave the Array.prototype alone otherwise.

underscore.js

use underscore, its small and awesome...

sortBy_.sortBy(list, iterator, [context]) Returns a sorted copy of list, ranked in ascending order by the results of running each value through iterator. Iterator may also be the string name of the property to sort by (eg. length).

var objs = [ { first_nom: 'Lazslo',last_nom: 'Jamf' },
        { first_nom: 'Pig', last_nom: 'Bodine'  },
        { first_nom: 'Pirate', last_nom: 'Prentice' }
       ];

_.sortBy( objs, 'first_nom' );

Simple and quick solution to this problem using prototype inheritance.

Solution

Array.prototype.sortByProp = function(p){
 return this.sort(function(a,b){
  return (a[p] > b[p]) ? 1 : (a[p] < b[p]) ? -1 : 0;
 });
}

Example / Usage

objs = [{age:44,name:'vinay'},{age:24,name:'deepak'},{age:74,name:'suresh'}];

objs.sortByProp('age');
// Returns
// [{"age":24,"name":"deepak"},{"age":44,"name":"vinay"},{"age":74,"name":"suresh"}]

objs.sortByProp('name');
// Returns
// [{"age":24,"name":"deepak"},{"age":74,"name":"suresh"},{"age":44,"name":"vinay"}]

additional desc params for Ege Özcan code

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

Combining Ege's dynamic solution with Vinay's idea, you get a nice robust solution:

Array.prototype.sortBy = function() {
    function _sortByAttr(attr) {
        var sortOrder = 1;
        if (attr[0] == "-") {
            sortOrder = -1;
            attr = attr.substr(1);
        }
        return function(a, b) {
            var result = (a[attr] < b[attr]) ? -1 : (a[attr] > b[attr]) ? 1 : 0;
            return result * sortOrder;
        }
    }
    function _getSortFunc() {
        if (arguments.length == 0) {
            throw "Zero length arguments not allowed for Array.sortBy()";
        }
        var args = arguments;
        return function(a, b) {
            for (var result = 0, i = 0; result == 0 && i < args.length; i++) {
                result = _sortByAttr(args[i])(a, b);
            }
            return result;
        }
    }
    return this.sort(_getSortFunc.apply(null, arguments));
}

Usage:

// Utility for printing objects
Array.prototype.print = function(title) {
    console.log("************************************************************************");
    console.log("**** "+title);
    console.log("************************************************************************");
    for (var i = 0; i < this.length; i++) {
        console.log("Name: "+this[i].FirstName, this[i].LastName, "Age: "+this[i].Age);
    }
}

// Setup sample data
var arrObj = [
    {FirstName: "Zach", LastName: "Emergency", Age: 35},
    {FirstName: "Nancy", LastName: "Nurse", Age: 27},
    {FirstName: "Ethel", LastName: "Emergency", Age: 42},
    {FirstName: "Nina", LastName: "Nurse", Age: 48},
    {FirstName: "Anthony", LastName: "Emergency", Age: 44},
    {FirstName: "Nina", LastName: "Nurse", Age: 32},
    {FirstName: "Ed", LastName: "Emergency", Age: 28},
    {FirstName: "Peter", LastName: "Physician", Age: 58},
    {FirstName: "Al", LastName: "Emergency", Age: 51},
    {FirstName: "Ruth", LastName: "Registration", Age: 62},
    {FirstName: "Ed", LastName: "Emergency", Age: 38},
    {FirstName: "Tammy", LastName: "Triage", Age: 29},
    {FirstName: "Alan", LastName: "Emergency", Age: 60},
    {FirstName: "Nina", LastName: "Nurse", Age: 54}
];

//Unit Tests
arrObj.sortBy("LastName").print("LastName Ascending");
arrObj.sortBy("-LastName").print("LastName Descending");
arrObj.sortBy("LastName", "FirstName", "-Age").print("LastName Ascending, FirstName Ascending, Age Descending");
arrObj.sortBy("-FirstName", "Age").print("FirstName Descending, Age Ascending");
arrObj.sortBy("-Age").print("Age Descending");