PHP Manual
Array Functions
Sort an array by values using a user-defined comparison function

usort

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

usort — Sort an array by values using a user-defined comparison function

Description

usort(array &$array, callable $callback): bool

Sorts array in place by values using a user-supplied comparison function to determine the order.

Note:
If two members compare as equal, they retain their original order. Prior to PHP 8.0.0, their relative order in the sorted array was undefined.

Note: This function assigns new keys to the elements in array. It will remove any existing keys that may have been assigned, rather than just reordering the keys.

Parameters

array: The input array.
callback: The comparison function must return an integer less than, equal to, or greater than zero if the first argument is considered to be respectively less than, equal to, or greater than the second.

callback(mixed $a, mixed $b): int

Return Values

Always returns true.

Changelog

Version	Description
8.0.0	If `callback` expects a parameter to be passed by reference, this function will now emit an `E_WARNING`.

Examples

Example #1 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: 6

The 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";
}
?>

Note:
Obviously in this trivial case the sort() function would be more appropriate.

Example #2 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";
}
?>

When sorting a multi-dimensional array, $a and $b contain references to the first index of the array.

The above example will output:

$fruits[0]: apples
$fruits[1]: grapes
$fruits[2]: lemons

Example #3 usort() example using a member function of an object


<?php
class TestObj {
    private 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
d

Example #4 usort() 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, c

Example #5 usort() 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;
}
?>