I'm trying to sort an array of objects. I'd prefer not to write a custom sort method for each attribute.
Is there anyway I could extend the built-in array.sort() method to accept an extra parameter, describing the attribute to sort on? E.g.,
array.sort(function(a, b, attr) { return a.attr - b.attr; }, 'name');
Write a function generator that accepts a property name:
function propComparator(prop) {
return function(a, b) {
return a[prop] - b[prop];
}
}
arr.sort(propComparator('name'));
You can also save the sorters for later use, directly, or as parameters:
var compareNames = propComparator('name');
var compareFoos = propComparator('foo');
...
arr.sort(compareNames);
takesComparator(compareFoos);
Updated for ES6, and make it so it actually works with different types.
Note that sort sorts in-place, which may or may not be desirable.
const arr = [
{ name: 'John', age: 92 },
{ name: 'Dave', age: 42 },
{ name: 'Justin', age: 3 }
]
const propComparator = (propName) =>
(a, b) => a[propName] == b[propName] ? 0 : a[propName] < b[propName] ? -1 : 1
arr.sort(propComparator('name'))
console.log(By name, arr)
arr.sort(propComparator('age'))
console.log(By age, arr)
