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PHP PHP Arrays and Control Structures PHP Arrays Sorting Arrays

Posted by robbertdekock
robbertdekock
13,390 Points

asort($iceCream); doesn't seem to output the expected result

In the final video of sorting arrays, the teachers sorts $iceCream by using asort($iceCream); to see which person likes Chocolate ice cream the most. asort() sorts by the value of an array, from low to high, so you would expect that 'Black Cherry' pops up as first, but it doesn't. It's probably something very easy, but I don't seem te understand it. Can somebody help me please? the code in the video is as followed.

<?php
$iceCream = array(
  'Alena' => 'Black Cherry', 
  'Treasure' => 'Chocolate', 
  'Dave McFarland' => 'Cookies and Cream', 
  'Rialla' => 'Strawberry',
);
$iceCream['alena'] = 'Pistachio';
$iceCream['Dave Thomas'] = 'Cookies and Cream';
$iceCream['Andrew'] = true;
krsort($iceCream);
asort($iceCream);
var_dump($iceCream);
?>

Thank you in advance!

Ashish Mehra
Ashish Mehra
432 Points

robbertdekock , I think you make some typo mistake in function i.e. krsort instead of ksort.

robbertdekock
robbertdekock
13,390 Points

Hi Ashish, thank you for your response. The thing is. My code is exactly the same as the teachers code, my output is exactly the same as my teachers' output, but I don't understand the output. Why does sortation starts with 'Chocolate'?

6 Answers

Andrew Patella
Andrew Patella
2,270 Points
Andrew Patella
Andrew Patella
2,270 Points

OK I think I figured this out.

And Robert you are not ignorant I'm sure many who watched this video didn't get it either, and that's because you can't sort an array twice with consistent results. as of php version 4.1.0

Im adding a link to php.net that explains this. https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=53341&edit=1

anyway this particular use of the sort method isn't used in the real world. not sure why it was even mentioned. Hope that helps

Jennifer Nordell
seal-mask
STAFF
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher
Jennifer Nordell
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

Hi there! It's because you're doing the krsort on the array first which sets the array in reverse order by the key. The keys are the names of the people. The values are the flavors. So Treasure's key is going to end up first, as her name would come last alphabetically and we're sorting in reverse. And the value for her ice cream is "Chocolate". I encourage you to comment out the krsort and run it again. If you do, you'll see Black Cherry at the top. with Alena as the key.

Hope this helps! :sparkles:

robbertdekock
robbertdekock
13,390 Points
robbertdekock
robbertdekock
13,390 Points

Hi Jennifer,

After trying the steps you explain, I still can't see why this results return. You say that krsort sorts by key in reverse order, which is correct. However, this formule puts capitals above normal letters, which results in 'alena' at the top of the var_dump output. You're probably right, but I can't stand the fact that I don't seem to understand this... ;)

Sorry for my ignorance and thank you for your time and effort.

Kind regards,

Robbert

Markus Mönch
Markus Mönch
16,383 Points
Markus Mönch
Markus Mönch
16,383 Points

i also dont understand this. teamtreehouse is very bad because they dont help here.

James Ackerman
James Ackerman
14,099 Points
James Ackerman
James Ackerman
14,099 Points

I agree. This is really confusing. Regardless of whether I comment out the ksort() function, I get the same result with "Alena" => "Black Cherry" at the top of the results.

Seth Johnson
Seth Johnson
15,200 Points
Seth Johnson
Seth Johnson
15,200 Points

I don't know if this helps anyone make sense of these sorting methods, but one very crucial aspect of them -- that to the best of my knowledge wasn't mentioned anywhere in this tutorial -- is that they're also case sensitive, as well as format sensitive, to an extent; my practice scripts had a variety of upper and lower casing contained in my array values, as well as blank spaces that I deliberately put into some of my strings, and it took me awhile to figure out that both of those things affect these sorting methods.