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.
#Signature
The signature of the sort method is:
1public static function sort(
2 $array,
3 $callback = null
4);
#Example Use
Let's refactor our students example from the where section to use a class based structure. First, we will create a new StudentTestResult class:
1class StudentTestResult {
2
3 public $name = '';
4
5 public $testScore = '';
6
7 public function __construct($name, $testScore)
8 {
9 $this->name = $name;
10 $this->testScore = $testScore;
11 }
12
13}
At this point we can build a new $testScores array:
1$testScores = [
2 new StudentTestResult('Alice', 95),
3 new StudentTestResult('Allison', 96),
4 new StudentTestResult('Bob', 92),
5 new StudentTestResult('Delbert', 72),
6 new StudentTestResult('Dennis', 87),
7 new StudentTestResult('Tonya', 32)
8];
Now, the $testScores array will look like this:
1array {
2 object(StudentTestResult) {
3 ["name"] "Alice"
4 ["testScore"] 95
5 }
6 object(StudentTestResult) {
7 ["name"] "Allison"
8 ["testScore"] 96
9 }
10 object(StudentTestResult) {
11 ["name"] "Bob"
12 ["testScore"] 92
13 }
14 object(StudentTestResult) {
15 ["name"] "Delbert"
16 ["testScore"] 72
17 }
18 object(StudentTestResult) {
19 ["name"] "Dennis"
20 ["testScore"] 87
21 }
22 object(StudentTestResult) {
23 ["name"] "Tonya"
24 ["testScore"] 32
25 }
26}
We want to see the students that have the worst test scores first, so that we can offer them extra help, or just to see what's going on:
1use Illuminate\Support\Arr;
2
3$sortedScores = Arr::sort($testScores, function($student)
4{
5 // Sort the student's scores by their test score.
6 return $student->testScore;
7});
The $sortedScores array will now look like this:
1array {
2 object(StudentTestResult) {
3 ["name"] "Tonya"
4 ["testScore"] 32
5 }
6 object(StudentTestResult) {
7 ["name"] "Delbert"
8 ["testScore"] 72
9 }
10 object(StudentTestResult) {
11 ["name"] "Dennis"
12 ["testScore"] 87
13 }
14 object(StudentTestResult) {
15 ["name"] "Bob"
16 ["testScore"] 92
17 }
18 object(StudentTestResult) {
19 ["name"] "Alice"
20 ["testScore"] 95
21 }
22 object(StudentTestResult) {
23 ["name"] "Allison"
24 ["testScore"] 96
25 }
26}
Alternatively, we can sort the array based on the student's name:
1use Illuminate\Support\Arr;
2
3$sortedScores = Arr::sort($testScores, function($student)
4{
5 // Sort the student's scores by their name.
6 return $student->name;
7});
And now the $sortedScores array would look like this:
1array {
2 object(StudentTestResult) {
3 ["name"] "Alice"
4 ["testScore"] 95
5 }
6 object(StudentTestResult) {
7 ["name"] "Allison"
8 ["testScore"] 96
9 }
10 object(StudentTestResult) {
11 ["name"] "Bob"
12 ["testScore"] 92
13 }
14 object(StudentTestResult) {
15 ["name"] "Delbert"
16 ["testScore"] 72
17 }
18 object(StudentTestResult) {
19 ["name"] "Dennis"
20 ["testScore"] 87
21 }
22 object(StudentTestResult) {
23 ["name"] "Tonya"
24 ["testScore"] 32
25 }
26}
#Array Sort Considerations
The array_sort function internally creates a new instance of the \Illuminate\Support\Collection class with the given $array and then calls the collection's sortBy(callable $callback = null) method with the given $callback. It then converts the sorted collection into an array by calling the collection's all() method. In short, this function creates a new object every time it is invoked.
Because of this function's internal behavior, code should never be written like the following:
1// Create a new collection, using the 'Collect' helper.
2$collection = collect(['second', 'first', 'third']);
3$sorted = array_sort($collection->all());
Instead, it is preferable to just use the collection's sortBy method directly:
1$collection = collect(['second', 'first', 'third']);
2$sorted = $collection->sortBy();
#Global array_sort Helper Function
The array_sort function is a shortcut to calling Arr::sort. This function is declared in the global namespace.
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