Simplest Answer
array.sort(function(a,b){ // Turn your strings into dates, and then subtract them // to get a value that is either negative, positive, or zero. return new Date(b.date) - new Date(a.date); });
More Generic Answer
array.sort(function(o1,o2){ if (sort_o1_before_o2) return -1; else if(sort_o1_after_o2) return 1; else return 0; });
Or more tersely:
array.sort(function(o1,o2){ return sort_o1_before_o2 ? -1 : sort_o1_after_o2 ? 1 : 0; });
Generic, Powerful Answer
Define a custom non-enumerable sortBy
function using a Schwartzian transform on all arrays :
(function(){ if (typeof Object.defineProperty === 'function'){ try{Object.defineProperty(Array.prototype,'sortBy',{value:sb}); }catch(e){} } if (!Array.prototype.sortBy) Array.prototype.sortBy = sb; function sb(f){ for (var i=this.length;i;){ var o = this[--i]; this[i] = [].concat(f.call(o,o,i),o); } this.sort(function(a,b){ for (var i=0,len=a.length;i<len;++i){ if (a[i]!=b[i]) return a[i]<b[i]?-1:1; } return 0; }); for (var i=this.length;i;){ this[--i]=this[i][this[i].length-1]; } return this; } })();
Use it like so:
array.sortBy(function(o){ return o.date });
If your date is not directly comparable, make a comparable date out of it, e.g.
array.sortBy(function(o){ return new Date( o.date ) });
You can also use this to sort by multiple criteria if you return an array of values:
// Sort by date, then score (reversed), then name array.sortBy(function(o){ return [ o.date, -o.score, o.name ] };
See http://phrogz.net/JS/Array.prototype.sortBy.js for more details.