Sort array of objects by two keys with equality

Question

I am trying to sort an array of objects by two keys, where the first one is sorted in an ascending matter and the second is sorted by equality. What I attempted, sorted the array only by the first attribute:

var test_array = [{number: 1, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 4, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 5, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 1, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 6, color: "#CCCC23"},
                  {number: 1, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 2, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 3, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 1, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 2, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 3, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 2, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 3, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 2, color: "#FFFFFF"}]

test_array.sort(function(x,y){
    return x.number - y.number || x.color === y.color

My goal is to get the array to look like this, where the colors are also sorted:

var test_array = [{number: 1, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 1, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 1, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 1, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 2, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 2, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 2, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 2, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 3, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 3, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 3, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 4, color: "#FFFFFF"},
                  {number: 5, color: "#EEEE23"},
                  {number: 6, color: "#CCCC23"}]

Is my solution too naive and using equality in to sort does not work that easily?

The second one cannot be used that way right?

Praveen Kumar Purushothaman
– Praveen Kumar Purushothaman

2018-06-19 21:40:57 +00:00
Commented Jun 19, 2018 at 21:40 — Praveen Kumar Purushothaman
– Praveen Kumar Purushothaman, Commented Jun 19, 2018 at 21:40

Pointy · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-19 21:41:18Z

6

Using an equality comparison does not make sense because the sort() function expects the return value to be a number; equality comparison returns true or false. Instead, you can use the String .localeCompare() method:

return x.number - y.number || x.color.localeCompare(y.color);

The .localeCompare() function does exactly what you want, returning -1, 0, or 1 based on the lexicographic ordering of the strings.

answered Jun 19, 2018 at 21:41

Pointy

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