Sort Array of Objects by String Property Value

You can also create a dynamic sort function that sorts objects by their value that you pass:

function dynamicSort(property) {
    var sortOrder = 1;
    if(property[0] === "-") {
        sortOrder = -1;
        property = property.substr(1);
    }
    return function (a,b) {
        /* next line works with strings and numbers, 
         * and you may want to customize it to your needs
         */
        var result = (a[property] < b[property]) ? -1 : (a[property] > b[property]) ? 1 : 0;
        return result * sortOrder;
    }
}

So you can have an array of objects like this:

var People = [
    {Name: "Name", Surname: "Surname"},
    {Name:"AAA", Surname:"ZZZ"},
    {Name: "Name", Surname: "AAA"}
];

...and it will work when you do:

People.sort(dynamicSort("Name"));
People.sort(dynamicSort("Surname"));
People.sort(dynamicSort("-Surname"));

Actually this already answers the question. Below part is written because many people contacted me, complaining that it doesn't work with multiple parameters.

Multiple Parameters

You can use the function below to generate sort functions with multiple sort parameters.

function dynamicSortMultiple() {
    /*
     * save the arguments object as it will be overwritten
     * note that arguments object is an array-like object
     * consisting of the names of the properties to sort by
     */
    var props = arguments;
    return function (obj1, obj2) {
        var i = 0, result = 0, numberOfProperties = props.length;
        /* try getting a different result from 0 (equal)
         * as long as we have extra properties to compare
         */
        while(result === 0 && i < numberOfProperties) {
            result = dynamicSort(props[i])(obj1, obj2);
            i++;
        }
        return result;
    }
}

Which would enable you to do something like this:

People.sort(dynamicSortMultiple("Name", "-Surname"));

Subclassing Array

For the lucky among us who can use ES6, which allows extending the native objects:

class MyArray extends Array {
    sortBy(...args) {
        return this.sort(dynamicSortMultiple(...args));
    }
}

That would enable this:

MyArray.from(People).sortBy("Name", "-Surname");

In ES6/ES2015 or later you can do this way:

objs.sort((a, b) => a.last_nom.localeCompare(b.last_nom));

Prior to ES6/ES2015

objs.sort(function(a, b) {
    return a.last_nom.localeCompare(b.last_nom)
});

underscore.js

use underscore, its small and awesome...

sortBy_.sortBy(list, iterator, [context]) Returns a sorted copy of list, ranked in ascending order by the results of running each value through iterator. Iterator may also be the string name of the property to sort by (eg. length).

var objs = [ 
  { first_nom: 'Lazslo',last_nom: 'Jamf' },
  { first_nom: 'Pig', last_nom: 'Bodine'  },
  { first_nom: 'Pirate', last_nom: 'Prentice' }
];

var sortedObjs = _.sortBy( objs, 'first_nom' );

Case sensitive

arr.sort((a, b) => a.name > b.name ? 1 : -1);

Case Insensitive

arr.sort((a, b) => a.name.toLowerCase() > b.name.toLowerCase() ? 1 : -1);

Useful Note

If no change in order (in case of the same strings) then the condition > will fail and -1 will be returned. But if strings are same then returning 1 or -1 will result in correct output

The other option could be to use >= operator instead of >

var objs = [ 
    { first_nom: 'Lazslo', last_nom: 'Jamf'     },
    { first_nom: 'Pig',    last_nom: 'Bodine'   },
    { first_nom: 'Pirate', last_nom: 'Prentice' }
];


// Define a couple of sorting callback functions, one with hardcoded sort key and the other with an argument sort key
const sorter1 = (a, b) => a.last_nom.toLowerCase() > b.last_nom.toLowerCase() ? 1 : -1;
const sorter2 = (sortBy) => (a, b) => a[sortBy].toLowerCase() > b[sortBy].toLowerCase() ? 1 : -1;

objs.sort(sorter1);
console.log("Using sorter1 - Hardcoded sort property last_name", objs);

objs.sort(sorter2('first_nom'));
console.log("Using sorter2 - passed param sortBy='first_nom'", objs);

objs.sort(sorter2('last_nom'));
console.log("Using sorter2 - passed param sortBy='last_nom'", objs);

If you have duplicate last names you might sort those by first name-

obj.sort(function(a,b){
  if(a.last_nom< b.last_nom) return -1;
  if(a.last_nom >b.last_nom) return 1;
  if(a.first_nom< b.first_nom) return -1;
  if(a.first_nom >b.first_nom) return 1;
  return 0;
});

As of 2018 there is a much shorter and elegant solution. Just use. Array.prototype.sort().

Example:

var items = [
  { name: 'Edward', value: 21 },
  { name: 'Sharpe', value: 37 },
  { name: 'And', value: 45 },
  { name: 'The', value: -12 },
  { name: 'Magnetic', value: 13 },
  { name: 'Zeros', value: 37 }
];

// sort by value
items.sort(function (a, b) {
  return a.value - b.value;
});

Simple and quick solution to this problem using prototype inheritance:

Array.prototype.sortBy = function(p) {
  return this.slice(0).sort(function(a,b) {
    return (a[p] > b[p]) ? 1 : (a[p] < b[p]) ? -1 : 0;
  });
}

Example / Usage

objs = [{age:44,name:'vinay'},{age:24,name:'deepak'},{age:74,name:'suresh'}];

objs.sortBy('age');
// Returns
// [{"age":24,"name":"deepak"},{"age":44,"name":"vinay"},{"age":74,"name":"suresh"}]

objs.sortBy('name');
// Returns
// [{"age":24,"name":"deepak"},{"age":74,"name":"suresh"},{"age":44,"name":"vinay"}]

Update: No longer modifies original array.

Old answer that is not correct:

arr.sort((a, b) => a.name > b.name)

UPDATE

From Beauchamp's comment:

arr.sort((a, b) => a.name < b.name ? -1 : (a.name > b.name ? 1 : 0))

More readable format:

arr.sort((a, b) => {
  if (a.name < b.name) return -1
  return a.name > b.name ? 1 : 0
})

Without nested ternaries:

arr.sort((a, b) => a.name < b.name ? - 1 : Number(a.name > b.name))

Explanation: Number() will cast true to 1 and false to 0.

Lodash.js (superset of Underscore.js)

It's good not to add a framework for every simple piece of logic, but relying on well tested utility frameworks can speed up development and reduce the amount of bugs.

Lodash produces very clean code and promotes a more functional programming style. In one glimpse it becomes clear what the intent of the code is.

OP's issue can simply be solved as:

const sortedObjs = _.sortBy(objs, 'last_nom');

More info? E.g. we have following nested object:

const users = [
  { 'user': {'name':'fred', 'age': 48}},
  { 'user': {'name':'barney', 'age': 36 }},
  { 'user': {'name':'wilma'}},
  { 'user': {'name':'betty', 'age': 32}}
];

We now can use the _.property shorthand user.age to specify the path to the property that should be matched. We will sort the user objects by the nested age property. Yes, it allows for nested property matching!

const sortedObjs = _.sortBy(users, ['user.age']);

Want it reversed? No problem. Use _.reverse.

const sortedObjs = _.reverse(_.sortBy(users, ['user.age']));

Want to combine both using chain?

const { chain } = require('lodash');
const sortedObjs = chain(users).sortBy('user.age').reverse().value();

Or when do you prefer flow over chain

const { flow, reverse, sortBy } = require('lodash/fp');
const sortedObjs = flow([sortBy('user.age'), reverse])(users);