how to sort strings in javascript numerically

Question

I would like to sort an array of strings (in javascript) such that groups of digits within the strings are compared as integers not strings. I am not worried about signed or fl

Answer 1

Use this compare function for sorting ..

function compareLists(a,b){
    var alist = a.split(/(\d+)/), // split text on change from anything to digit and digit to anything
        blist = b.split(/(\d+)/); // split text on change from anything to digit and digit to anything

    alist.slice(-1) == '' ? alist.pop() : null; // remove the last element if empty
    blist.slice(-1) == '' ? blist.pop() : null; // remove the last element if empty

    for (var i = 0, len = alist.length; i < len;i++){
        if (alist[i] != blist[i]){ // find the first non-equal part
           if (alist[i].match(/\d/)) // if numeric
           {
              return +alist[i] - +blist[i]; // compare as number
           } else {
              return alist[i].localeCompare(blist[i]); // compare as string
           }
        }
    }

    return true;
}

Syntax

var data = ["a1b3","a10b11","b10b2","a9b2","a1b20","a1c4"];
data.sort( compareLists );
alert(data);

demo at http://jsfiddle.net/h9Rqr/7/