Sort Array of numeric & alphabetical elements (Natural Sort)

Question

Suppose I have an array

var arr = [1,5,\"ahsldk\",10,55,3,2,7,8,1,2,75,\"abc\",\"huds\"];

and I try sorting it, I get something like ...

Answer 1

If you have only alphabetical and integer items, you can stick with simple code:

var arr = [1,5,"ahsldk",10,55,3,2,7,8,1,2,75,"abc","huds"];
arr.sort(function(a, b)
{
    if (a == b)
        return 0;

    var n1 = parseInt(a, 10);
    var n2 = parseInt(b, 10);
    if (isNaN(n1) && isNaN(n2)) {
        //both alphabetical
        return (a > b) ? 1 : 0;
    }
    else if (!isNaN(n1) && !isNaN(n2)) {
        //both integers
        return (n1 > n2) ? 1 : 0;
    }
    else if (isNaN(n1) && !isNaN(n2)) {
        //a alphabetical and b is integer
        return 1;
    }

    //a integer and b is alphabetical
    return 0;
});

Working example: http://jsfiddle.net/25X2e/