usort
(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
Sort an array by values using a user-defined comparison function
Description
Sorts array in place by values using a user-supplied comparison function to determine the order.
Sort-unstable No-key-association
Parameters
arrayThe input array.
callbackDescription
Return Values
Always
Changelog
| Version | Description |
|---|
Examples
usort() example
<?php
function cmp($a, $b)
{
if ($a == $b) {
return 0;
}
return ($a < $b) ? -1 : 1;
}
$a = array(3, 2, 5, 6, 1);
usort($a, "cmp");
foreach ($a as $key => $value) {
echo "$key: $value\n";
}
?>The above example will output:
0: 1
1: 2
2: 3
3: 5
4: 6The spaceship operator may be used to simplify the internal comparison even further.
<?php
function cmp($a, $b)
{
return $a <=> $b;
}
$a = array(3, 2, 5, 6, 1);
usort($a, "cmp");
foreach ($a as $key => $value) {
echo "$key: $value\n";
}
?>Obviously in this trivial case the sort() function would be more appropriate.
usort() example using multi-dimensional array
<?php
function cmp($a, $b)
{
return strcmp($a["fruit"], $b["fruit"]);
}
$fruits[0]["fruit"] = "lemons";
$fruits[1]["fruit"] = "apples";
$fruits[2]["fruit"] = "grapes";
usort($fruits, "cmp");
foreach ($fruits as $key => $value) {
echo "\$fruits[$key]: " . $value["fruit"] . "\n";
}
?>The above example will output:
$fruits[0]: apples
$fruits[1]: grapes
$fruits[2]: lemonsWhen sorting a multi-dimensional array, $a and $b contain references to the first index of the array.
usort() example using a member function of an object
<?php
class TestObj {
public string $name;
function __construct($name)
{
$this->name = $name;
}
/* This is the static comparing function: */
static function cmp_obj($a, $b)
{
return strtolower($a->name) <=> strtolower($b->name);
}
}
$a[] = new TestObj("c");
$a[] = new TestObj("b");
$a[] = new TestObj("d");
usort($a, [TestObj::class, "cmp_obj"]);
foreach ($a as $item) {
echo $item->name . "\n";
}
?>The above example will output:
b
c
dusort() example using a closure to sort a multi-dimensional array
<?php
$array[0] = array('key_a' => 'z', 'key_b' => 'c');
$array[1] = array('key_a' => 'x', 'key_b' => 'b');
$array[2] = array('key_a' => 'y', 'key_b' => 'a');
function build_sorter($key) {
return function ($a, $b) use ($key) {
return strnatcmp($a[$key], $b[$key]);
};
}
usort($array, build_sorter('key_b'));
foreach ($array as $item) {
echo $item['key_a'] . ', ' . $item['key_b'] . "\n";
}
?>The above example will output:
y, a
x, b
z, cusort() example using the spaceship operator
The spaceship operator allows for straightforward comparison of compound values across multiple axes. The following example will sort $people by last name, then by first name if the last name matches.
<?php
$people[0] = ['first' => 'Adam', 'last' => 'West'];
$people[1] = ['first' => 'Alec', 'last' => 'Baldwin'];
$people[2] = ['first' => 'Adam', 'last' => 'Baldwin'];
function sorter(array $a, array $b) {
return [$a['last'], $a['first']] <=> [$b['last'], $b['first']];
}
usort($people, 'sorter');
foreach ($people as $person) {
print $person['last'] . ', ' . $person['first'] . PHP_EOL;
}
?>The above example will output:
Baldwin, Adam
Baldwin, Alec
West, Adam