Array Functions
PHP Manual

sort

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

sort — Sort an array

Description

bool sort ( array &$array [, int $sort_flags = SORT_REGULAR ] )

This function sorts an array. Elements will be arranged from lowest to highest when this function has completed.

Parameters

array

The input array.

sort_flags

The optional second parameter sort_flags may be used to modify the sorting behavior using these values:

Sorting type flags:

  • SORT_REGULAR - compare items normally (don't change types)
  • SORT_NUMERIC - compare items numerically
  • SORT_STRING - compare items as strings
  • SORT_LOCALE_STRING - compare items as strings, based on the current locale. Added in PHP 4.4.0 and 5.0.2, it uses the system locale, which can be changed using setlocale().

Return Values

Returns TRUE on success or FALSE on failure.

Examples

Example #1 sort() example

<?php

$fruits = array("lemon", "orange", "banana", "apple");
sort($fruits);
foreach ($fruits as $key => $val) {
    echo "fruits[" . $key . "] = " . $val . "\n";
}

?>

The above example will output:

fruits[0] = apple
fruits[1] = banana
fruits[2] = lemon
fruits[3] = orange

The fruits have been sorted in alphabetical order.

Notes

Note: This function assigns new keys to the elements in array. It will remove any existing keys that may have been assigned, rather than just reordering the keys.

Note: Like most PHP sorting functions, sort() uses an implementation of » Quicksort.

Warning

Be careful when sorting arrays with mixed types values because sort() can produce unpredictable results.

See Also

Array Functions
PHP Manual