sort($array, callable $callback)

The sort helper method will allow you to sort the given $array based on some condition returned by the $callback. The method works by iterating over all the values in the $array and passing the values it finds into the $callback function. It then uses the value returned by the callback to determine sort order.

Let's refactor our students example (from previous articles) to use a class based structure. First, we will create a new StudentTestResult class:

 1<?php
 2 
 3class StudentTestResult {
 4 
 5    public $name      = '';
 6 
 7    public $testScore = '';
 8 
 9    public function __construct($name, $testScore)
10    {
11        $this->name      = $name;
12        $this->testScore = $testScore;
13    }
14 
15}

At this point we can build a new $testScores array:

 1<?php
 2 
 3$testScores = [
 4    new StudentTestResult('Alice', 95),
 5    new StudentTestResult('Allison', 96),
 6    new StudentTestResult('Bob', 92),
 7    new StudentTestResult('Delbert', 72),
 8    new StudentTestResult('Dennis', 87),
 9    new StudentTestResult('Tonya', 32)
10];

Now, the $testScores array will look like this:

 1array(6) {
 2    [0] object(StudentTestResult)#138 (2) {
 3        ["name"] "Alice"
 4        ["testScore"] 95
 5    }
 6    [1] object(StudentTestResult)#139 (2) {
 7        ["name"] "Allison"
 8        ["testScore"] 96
 9    }
10    [2] object(StudentTestResult)#140 (2) {
11        ["name"] "Bob"
12        ["testScore"] 92
13    }
14    [3] object(StudentTestResult)#141 (2) {
15        ["name"] "Delbert"
16        ["testScore"] 72
17    }
18    [4] object(StudentTestResult)#142 (2) {
19        ["name"] "Dennis"
20        ["testScore"] 87
21    }
22    [5] object(StudentTestResult)#143 (2) {
23        ["name"] "Tonya"
24        ["testScore"] 32
25    }
26}

We want to see the students that have the worst test scores first, so that we can offer them extra help, or just to see what's going on:

1<?php
2 
3use Illuminate\Support\Arr;
4 
5$sortedScores = Arr::sort($testScores, function($student)
6{
7    // Sort the student's scores by their test score.
8    return $student->testScore;
9});

The $sortedScores array will now look like this:

 1array(6) {
 2    [5] object(StudentTestResult)#143 (2) {
 3        ["name"] "Tonya"
 4        ["testScore"] 32
 5    }
 6    [3] object(StudentTestResult)#141 (2) {
 7        ["name"] "Delbert"
 8        ["testScore"] 72
 9    }
10    [4] object(StudentTestResult)#142 (2) {
11        ["name"] "Dennis"
12        ["testScore"] 87
13    }
14    [2] object(StudentTestResult)#140 (2) {
15        ["name"] "Bob"
16        ["testScore"] 92
17    }
18    [0] object(StudentTestResult)#138 (2) {
19        ["name"] "Alice"
20        ["testScore"] 95
21    }
22    [1] object(StudentTestResult)#139 (2) {
23        ["name"] "Allison"
24        ["testScore"] 96
25    }
26}

Alternatively, we can sort the array based on the student's name:

1<?php
2 
3use Illuminate\Support\Arr;
4 
5$sortedScores = Arr::sort($testScores, function($student)
6{
7    // Sort the student's scores by their name.
8    return $student->name;
9});

And now the $sortedScores array would look like this:

 1array(6) {
 2    [0] object(StudentTestResult)#138 (2) {
 3        ["name"] "Alice"
 4        ["testScore"] 95
 5    }
 6    [1] object(StudentTestResult)#139 (2) {
 7        ["name"] "Allison"
 8        ["testScore"] 96
 9    }
10    [2] object(StudentTestResult)#140 (2) {
11        ["name"] "Bob"
12        ["testScore"] 92
13    }
14    [3] object(StudentTestResult)#141 (2) {
15        ["name"] "Delbert"
16        ["testScore"] 72
17    }
18    [4] object(StudentTestResult)#142 (2) {
19        ["name"] "Dennis"
20        ["testScore"] 87
21    }
22    [5] object(StudentTestResult)#143 (2) {
23        ["name"] "Tonya"
24        ["testScore"] 32
25    }
26}

#array_sort($array, callable $callback)

The array_sort function is a shortcut to calling Arr::sort. This function is declared in the global namespace.

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