numeric_sort.js

/**
 * Sort an array of numbers by their numeric value, ensuring that the
 * array is not changed in place.
 *
 * This is necessary because the default behavior of .sort
 * in JavaScript is to sort arrays as string values
 *
 *     [1, 10, 12, 102, 20].sort()
 *     // output
 *     [1, 10, 102, 12, 20]
 *
 * @param {Array<number>} x input array
 * @return {Array<number>} sorted array
 * @private
 * @example
 * numericSort([3, 2, 1]) // => [1, 2, 3]
 */
function numericSort(x) {
    return (
        x
            // ensure the array is not changed in-place
            .slice()
            // comparator function that treats input as numeric
            .sort(function (a, b) {
                return a - b;
            })
    );
}

export default numericSort;