@thi.ng/compare

What is @thi.ng/compare?

@thi.ng/compare is a utility library for various comparison operations in JavaScript. It provides a collection of comparator functions for different data types and use cases, making it easier to perform sorting, equality checks, and other comparison-based operations.

What are @thi.ng/compare's main functionalities?

Basic Comparators

Provides basic comparator functions for general use, including ascending and descending numerical comparisons.

const { compare, compareNumAsc, compareNumDesc } = require('@thi.ng/compare');

console.log(compare(5, 10)); // -1
console.log(compareNumAsc(5, 10)); // -1
console.log(compareNumDesc(5, 10)); // 1

String Comparators

Includes specialized comparators for string values, with options for case-sensitive and case-insensitive comparisons.

const { compareStr, compareStrCaseInsensitive } = require('@thi.ng/compare');

console.log(compareStr('apple', 'banana')); // -1
console.log(compareStrCaseInsensitive('Apple', 'apple')); // 0

Array Comparators

Allows for comparison of arrays, element by element, to determine their order or equality.

const { compareArrays } = require('@thi.ng/compare');

console.log(compareArrays([1, 2, 3], [1, 2, 4])); // -1
console.log(compareArrays([1, 2, 3], [1, 2, 3])); // 0

Object Comparators

Provides comparators for objects based on specific keys, useful for sorting arrays of objects.

const { compareByKey } = require('@thi.ng/compare');

const obj1 = { id: 1, name: 'Alice' };
const obj2 = { id: 2, name: 'Bob' };
console.log(compareByKey('id')(obj1, obj2)); // -1

Other packages similar to @thi.ng/compare

lodash

Lodash is a popular utility library that provides a wide range of functions for common programming tasks, including comparison operations. It offers functions like _.isEqual for deep equality checks and _.sortBy for sorting collections. Compared to @thi.ng/compare, Lodash is more comprehensive but also larger in size.

fast-deep-equal

fast-deep-equal is a small and fast library for deep equality checks. It is highly optimized for performance and is often used when deep comparison of objects or arrays is needed. Unlike @thi.ng/compare, it focuses solely on deep equality and does not provide other comparison utilities.

ramda

Ramda is a functional programming library for JavaScript that includes a variety of utility functions, including comparison functions like R.equals and R.sort. It emphasizes immutability and functional programming principles. While it offers similar comparison functionalities, it is part of a broader functional programming toolkit.

README

[!NOTE] This is one of 201 standalone projects, maintained as part of the @thi.ng/umbrella monorepo and anti-framework.

🚀 Please help me to work full-time on these projects by sponsoring me on GitHub. Thank you! ❤️

• About
  • Generic comparison
  • Additional comparators
  • Operators
• Status
• Installation
• Dependencies
• Usage examples
• API
  • ICompare support
  • Cluster sort w/ multiple sort keys
• Authors
• License

About

Comparators with optional support for types implementing the @thi.ng/api ICompare interface.

Generic comparison

• compare()

Additional comparators

• compareByKey()
• compareByKeys2()
• compareByKeys3()
• compareByKeys4()
• compareLengthAsc()
• compareLengthDesc()
• compareLex()
• compareNumAsc()
• compareNumDesc()
• reverse()

Operators

• numericOp()
• stringOp()
• eq()
• gt()
• gte()
• lt()
• lte()
• neq()

Status

STABLE - used in production

Search or submit any issues for this package

Installation

yarn add @thi.ng/compare

ESM import:

import * as cmp from "@thi.ng/compare";

Browser ESM import:

<script type="module" src="https://esm.run/@thi.ng/compare"></script>

JSDelivr documentation

For Node.js REPL:

const cmp = await import("@thi.ng/compare");

Package sizes (brotli'd, pre-treeshake): ESM: 804 bytes

Dependencies

• @thi.ng/api

Note: @thi.ng/api is in most cases a type-only import (not used at runtime)

Usage examples

Five projects in this repo's /examples directory are using this package:

Screenshot	Description	Live demo	Source
	Color palette generation via dominant color extraction from uploaded images	Demo	Source
	Piechart visualization of CSV data	Demo	Source
	Full umbrella repo doc string search w/ paginated results	Demo	Source
	Tree-based UI to find & explore thi.ng projects via their associated keywords	Demo	Source
	Triple store query results & sortable table	Demo	Source

API

Generated API docs

ICompare support

import { ICompare } from "@thi.ng/api";
import { compare } from "@thi.ng/compare";

class Foo implements ICompare<Foo> {

    x: number;

    constructor(x: number) {
        this.x = x;
    }

    compare(o: Foo) {
        return compare(this.x, o.x);
    }
}

compare(new Foo(1), new Foo(2));
// -1

Cluster sort w/ multiple sort keys

Key-based object comparison is supported for 1 - 4 keys / dimensions.

import * as cmp from "@thi.ng/compare";

const src = [
    { id: "charlie", age: 66 },
    { id: "bart", age: 42 },
    { id: "alice", age: 23 },
    { id: "dora", age: 11 },
];

// cluster sort by id -> age (default comparators)
console.log(
    [...src].sort(cmp.compareByKeys2("id", "age"))
);
// [
//   { id: 'alice', age: 23 },
//   { id: 'bart', age: 42 },
//   { id: 'charlie', age: 66 },
//   { id: 'dora', age: 11 }
// ]

// cluster sort by age -> id (default comparators)
console.log(
    [...src].sort(cmp.compareByKeys2("age", "id"))
);
// [
//   { id: 'dora', age: 11 },
//   { id: 'alice', age: 23 },
//   { id: 'bart', age: 42 },
//   { id: 'charlie', age: 66 }
// ]

// cluster sort by age -> id
// (custom comparator for `age` key)
console.log(
    [...src].sort(cmp.compareByKeys2("age", "id", cmp.compareNumDesc))
);
// [
//   { id: 'charlie', age: 66 },
//   { id: 'bart', age: 42 },
//   { id: 'alice', age: 23 },
//   { id: 'dora', age: 11 }
// ]

// using `reverse()` comparator for `id`
console.log(
    [...src].sort(cmp.compareByKeys2("age", "id", cmp.compare, cmp.reverse(cmp.compare)))
);
// [
//   { id: 'dora', age: 11 },
//   { id: 'alice', age: 23 },
//   { id: 'bart', age: 42 },
//   { id: 'charlie', age: 66 }
// ]

Authors

• Karsten Schmidt

If this project contributes to an academic publication, please cite it as:

@misc{thing-compare,
  title = "@thi.ng/compare",
  author = "Karsten Schmidt",
  note = "https://thi.ng/compare",
  year = 2016
}

License

© 2016 - 2025 Karsten Schmidt // Apache License 2.0