Overview
ListCollection provides sorting methods that return new collections with sequential integer keys. All sorting operations preserve the list structure.
sort()
Sort elements in ascending order.
Signature
public function sort($callback = null): static
callback
callable|int|null
default:"null"
Optional comparison callback or sort flags.
Examples
$list = new ListCollection([3, 1, 4, 1, 5]);
$sorted = $list->sort();
$sorted->all();
// [0 => 1, 1 => 1, 2 => 3, 3 => 4, 4 => 5]
sortDesc()
Sort elements in descending order.
Signature
public function sortDesc($options = SORT_REGULAR): static
options
int
default:"SORT_REGULAR"
Sort flags (e.g., SORT_REGULAR, SORT_NUMERIC, SORT_STRING).
Examples
$list = new ListCollection([1, 3, 2]);
$sorted = $list->sortDesc();
$sorted->all();
// [0 => 3, 1 => 2, 2 => 1]
sortBy()
Sort elements by a field or callback result in ascending order.
Signature
public function sortBy($callback, $options = SORT_REGULAR, $descending = false): static
Field name or callback to determine sort value.
options
int
default:"SORT_REGULAR"
Sort flags.
Sort in descending order.
Examples
Sort by field name
$list = new ListCollection([
['name' => 'Charlie'],
['name' => 'Alice'],
['name' => 'Bob'],
]);
$sorted = $list->sortBy('name');
$sorted->all();
// [
// 0 => ['name' => 'Alice'],
// 1 => ['name' => 'Bob'],
// 2 => ['name' => 'Charlie']
// ]
$sorted->first()['name']; // 'Alice'
$sorted->last()['name']; // 'Charlie'
Sort by callback
$list = new ListCollection([
['age' => 30],
['age' => 20],
['age' => 25],
]);
$sorted = $list->sortBy(fn($item) => $item['age']);
$sorted->pluck('age')->all();
// [0 => 20, 1 => 25, 2 => 30]
sortByDesc()
Sort elements by a field or callback result in descending order.
Signature
public function sortByDesc($callback, $options = SORT_REGULAR): static
Field name or callback to determine sort value.
options
int
default:"SORT_REGULAR"
Sort flags.
Examples
$list = new ListCollection([
['name' => 'Alice'],
['name' => 'Charlie'],
['name' => 'Bob'],
]);
$sorted = $list->sortByDesc('name');
$sorted->all();
// [
// 0 => ['name' => 'Charlie'],
// 1 => ['name' => 'Bob'],
// 2 => ['name' => 'Alice']
// ]
$sorted->first()['name']; // 'Charlie'
$sorted->last()['name']; // 'Alice'
Advanced Examples
Chaining sort with other operations
$list = new ListCollection([5, 3, 1, 4, 2, 3, 5]);
$result = $list
->filter(fn(int $v): bool => $v > 1)
->unique()
->sort();
$result->all();
// [0 => 2, 1 => 3, 2 => 4, 3 => 5]
Sort complex objects
$list = new ListCollection([
['name' => 'John', 'age' => 30],
['name' => 'Jane', 'age' => 25],
['name' => 'Bob', 'age' => 35],
]);
// Sort by age ascending
$byAge = $list->sortBy('age');
// Sort by name descending
$byName = $list->sortByDesc('name');
Key Points
- All sorting methods return a new
ListCollection with sequential keys (0, 1, 2, …)
- Original collection is not modified (immutable operations)
sort() and sortDesc() work on simple valuessortBy() and sortByDesc() accept field names or callbacks for complex sorting- Results always maintain list structure with reindexed keys
- Sort methods can be chained with other collection operations