Array.sort() compare function

Question

The code I found to sort a list of numbers by ascending order is:

arr.sort((a,b) => a-b);

I don't understand how the compare function works. What if you do arr.sort((a,b) => a+b)?

..What if you do arr.sort((a,b) => a+b)?... Why don't you do that to see what happens? — B001ᛦ
– B001ᛦ, Commented Sep 10, 2020 at 19:27
It is very clearly explained in the documentation, try reading the function docs before posting a question. developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/… — Berk Kurkcuoglu
– Berk Kurkcuoglu, Commented Sep 10, 2020 at 19:32
a more explicit version of that function would be (a,b) => { if (a < b) return -1; else if (a > b) return 1; else return 0; } — Mulan
– Mulan, Commented Sep 10, 2020 at 19:33

Mingwei Samuel · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-10 19:31:25Z

2

So a - b is just a neat shorthand which fulfills those cases.

answered Sep 10, 2020 at 19:31

Mingwei Samuel

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