PHP Program to Sort Names in an Alphabetical Order

Sorting names in alphabetical order is a common task in programming. PHP provides several functions and methods to achieve this.

Examples:

Input: arr = ["Sourabh", "Anoop, "Harsh", "Alok", "Tanuj"]
Output: ["Alok", "Anoop", "Harsh", "Sourabh", "Tanuj"]

Input: arr = ["John", "Alice", "Bob", "Eve", "Charlie"]
Output: ["Alice", "Bob", "Charlie", "Eve", "John"]

Approach 1. Using sort() Function

The sort() function in PHP is used to sort an indexed array in ascending order.

PHP

<?php

$names = ["John", "Alice", "Bob", "Eve", "Charlie"];

sort($names);

print_r($names);

?>

Output

Array
(
    [0] => Alice
    [1] => Bob
    [2] => Charlie
    [3] => Eve
    [4] => John
)

Approach 2: Using asort() Function for Associative Arrays

If you have an associative array with keys and values, you can use asort() to sort the array by values while maintaining the key-value association.

PHP

<?php

$names = [
    "John" => 30,
    "Alice" => 25,
    "Bob" => 35,
    "Eve" => 28,
    "Charlie" => 40
];

asort($names);

print_r($names);

?>

Output

Array
(
    [Alice] => 25
    [Eve] => 28
    [John] => 30
    [Bob] => 35
    [Charlie] => 40
)

Approach 3: Using natsort() Function for Natural Sorting

If you have names with numbers, and you want a more natural order, you can use natsort() function.

PHP

<?php

$names = [
    "John" => 30,
    "Alice" => 25,
    "Bob" => 35,
    "Eve" => 28,
    "Charlie" => 40
];

natsort($names);

print_r($names);

?>

Output

Array
(
    [Alice] => 25
    [Eve] => 28
    [John] => 30
    [Bob] => 35
    [Charlie] => 40
)

Approach 4: Using usort() function for Custom Sorting

For custom sorting, you can use usort() function and provide your own comparison function.

PHP

<?php

$names = ["John", "Alice", "Bob", "Eve", "Charlie"];

usort($names, function ($a, $b) {
    return strcmp($a, $b);
});

print_r($names);

?>

Output

Array
(
    [0] => Alice
    [1] => Bob
    [2] => Charlie
    [3] => Eve
    [4] => John
)