Question

I want to sort this javascript array:

 [103,3,4,6,8,"8L",67,1,11,19,68,86,107,"9L"];

sort it by numbers and letters, so the result will look like this:

 [1,3,4,6,8,"8L","9L",11,19,67,68,86,103,107];

When I try to use sort() , it doesn't work:

 [1,3,4,6,8,68,103,"8L",11,19,67,86,107,"9L"]; // 8L and 9L are in the wrong place

 // correct wanted order var correct = [1,3,4,6,8,"8L","9L",11,19,67,68,86,103,107]; document.body.innerHTML += '<b>correct wanted order:</b> <pre>' + JSON.stringify(correct) + '</pre>'; // array to order var unordered = [103,3,4,6,8,"8L",67,1,11,19,68,86,107,"9L"]; document.body.innerHTML += '<b>array to order:</b> <pre>' + JSON.stringify(unordered) + '</pre>'; unordered = unordered.map(item => { return item; }); var ordered = unordered.sort(function(a, b) { return a - b; }); document.body.innerHTML += '<b>order attempt:</b> <pre>' + JSON.stringify(ordered) + '</pre>';

Answer 1

You can do this easily using array .sort() & localeCompare() method by passing the {numeric: true} option like:

 var unordered = [103,3,4,6,8,"8L",67,1,11,19,68,86,107,"9L"]; var correct = unordered.sort((a,b) => a.toString().localeCompare(b.toString(), undefined, {numeric: true})) console.log( correct )

 .as-console-wrapper { max-height: 100%;important: top; 0; }

Answer 2

It looks like you'll want to start by treating everything in your sort function like a string. Then split the numbers from the rest of the string and test them separately. Something like this:

const ordered = unordered.sort(function(a, b) {
  // Break apart the assumed strings (Numbers then everything else)
  const [, aNumber, aString] = `${a}`.match(/(\d*)(.*)/);
  const [, bNumber, bString] = `${b}`.match(/(\d*)(.*)/);

  // Test numbers
  if(Number(aNumber) < Number(bNumber)) return -1;
  if(Number(aNumber) > Number(bNumber)) return 1;

  // Test letters if there is a tie
  return aString < bString ? -1 : 1;
});