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JavaScript JavaScript Foundations Arrays Methods: Part 2

Posted by acespotan
acespotan
7,725 Points

sorting an array by comparing the length of an array element to another...

Hi there,
I'm kind of stuck on this particular question. I am understanding the problem as to 'sorting an array by comparing the length of an array element to another', which means I need to pull the length of each index of the array, 'saying2[i].length', and not the length of the array 'saying2.length'. Saying2.length will only return the number of elements in the array. If I am correct in understanding the question, I am having some problems sorting the array[index].length. My steps taken are:

  1. pull the saying2[i].length by looping through each element in the array using a for loop
  2. compare saying2[i].length to one another to determine which is greater
  3. display the sort order by saying2[i].length

for(var i = 0; i <= saying2.length; i++){

console.log(i.toString()); i.sort(function(a,b){ return a-b; }); }

I think I'm confusing myself, please help! much appreciated. ~ Grace

3 Answers

Chris Shaw
Chris Shaw
26,676 Points
Chris Shaw
Chris Shaw
26,676 Points

Hi,

I think you're over thinking the question a little bit, the sort method doesn't require any wrapper functionality such as a for loop, all it's simply asking for is the below.

saying2.sort(function(a, b) {
    return a.length - b.length;
});
Juan Ferreira
Juan Ferreira
47,991 Points
Juan Ferreira
Juan Ferreira
47,991 Points

Grace saying2 is an Array object. The Array object has a sort function. Therefore you can simply sort saying2 by "saying2.sort();".

This, however, wouldn't sort the Array based on length of strings. Instead the sort function sorts strings alphabetically by default. To go about handling this you'll need to pass a function as an argument to the sort function.

Like such:

saying2.sort(function(a,b){ return <SORT ALGORITHM>; });

Where <SORT ALGORITHM> would be what you want your sorting algorithm to be based on.

Let me know if you need me to explain what the <SORT ALGORITHM> should be to proceed forward. I figured I not give you the sorting algorithm but direction in solving the problem.

acespotan
acespotan
7,725 Points
acespotan
acespotan
7,725 Points

Chris + Juan, Thank you both very much... both of you helped me clear my head and rethink the problem. Chris, you are correct in saying I'm over thinking the question. Thanks again.