Sort a array of objects lexicographically based on a nested value

Question

Using JavaScript, I would like to know how to sort lexicographically an array of objects based on a string value in each object.

Consider:

[  {     "name" : "bob",     "count" : true     "birthday" : 1972  },       {     "name" : "jill",     "count" : false     "birthday" : 1922  },       {     "name" : "Gerald",     "count" : true     "birthday" : 1920  }  ] 

How can I sort the array alphabetically by name?

The name values are usernames, so I would like to maintain the letter casing.

Answer 1

var obj = [...];  obj.sort(function(a,b){return a.name.localeCompare(b.name); }); 

Be aware that this will not take capitalisation into account (so it will order all names beginning with capitals before all those beginning with smalls, i.e. "Z" < "a"), so you might find it relevant to add a toUpperCase() in there.

You can make it more generic as well:

function sortFactory(prop) {    return function(a,b){ return a[prop].localeCompare(b[prop]); }; }  obj.sort(sortFactory('name')); // sort by name property obj.sort(sortFactory('surname')); // sort by surname property 

And even more generic if you pass the comparator to the factory...