How to sort a Set in JavaScript

Sort a Set in JavaScript #

To sort a Set in JavaScript:

Convert the Set into an array, using the Array.from() method.
Sort the array, by using the Array.sort() method.
Convert the array back into a Set object.

index.js

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/**
 * 👇️ SORT a NUMBERS Set
 */

const numbersSet = new Set([300, 100, 700]);

// 👉️ sorts numbers in Ascending order
const sortedNumbers = Array.from(numbersSet).sort((a, b) => a - b);
console.log(sortedNumbers); // 👉️ [100, 300, 700]

const sortedNumbersSet = new Set(sortedNumbers);
console.log(sortedNumbersSet); // 👉️ {100, 300, 700}

/**
 * 👇️ SORT a STRINGS Set
 */

const stringsSet = new Set(['c', 'b', 'a']);

const sortedStrings = Array.from(stringsSet).sort();
console.log(sortedStrings); // 👉️ ['a', 'b', 'c']

const sortedStringsSet = new Set(sortedStrings);
console.log(sortedStringsSet); // 👉️ {'a', 'b', 'c'}

We used the Array.from method to create an array from the Set object.

We then called the Array.sort method on the array.

Notice that when sorting numbers, we have to pass a function as a parameter to the sort method, whereas with strings, we don't.

The parameter we passed to the sort method is a function that defines the sort order.

If you don't provide this parameter, the array elements get converted to strings and sorted according to their UTF-16 code unit values.
This is not what we want when working with Sets that contain numbers, however it's exactly what we want when comparing strings.

After we have sorted the array, we have to pass it to the Set constructor to convert it back to a Set. We can iterate over Sets in element insertion order.

Using the Array.from method is the recommended approach when using TypeScript because the compiler often complains when using the spread operator (...) with iterators.

Here are the same examples, however this time we use the spread operator (...) instead of Array.from.

index.js

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const numbersSet = new Set([300, 100, 700]);

const sortedNumbers = [...numbersSet].sort((a, b) => a - b);
console.log(sortedNumbers); // 👉️ [100, 300, 700]

const sortedNumbersSet = new Set(sortedNumbers);
console.log(sortedNumbersSet); // 👉️ {100, 300, 700}

/**
 * 👇️ SORT a STRINGS Set
 */

const stringsSet = new Set(['c', 'b', 'a']);

const sortedStrings = [...stringsSet].sort();
console.log(sortedStrings); // 👉️ ['c', 'b', 'a']

const sortedStringsSet = new Set(sortedStrings);
console.log(sortedStringsSet); // 👉️ {'a', 'b', 'c'}

The spread operator (...) is the most commonly used approach to convert aSet into an array.

How to sort a Set in JavaScript

Sort a Set in JavaScript #

Further Reading #

Borislav Hadzhiev