Finding object with lowest value for some key, in Javascript

Question

In my Javascript program, I have a list of Person objects.

For example

[
     "Michael": {
          "age": 45,
          "position": "manager",
          ...
     },
    "Dwight": {
          "age": 36,
          "position": "assistant manager",
          ...
     },
    ....
]

I want to find the youngest Person.

I've accomplished this by creating two arrays: one of all the Persons and one of all their ages, and getting the index of the lowest age and applying it to the first array. Like:

var arrayOfPersons = [persons[0], persons[1], ....];
var arrayOfAges = [persons[0].age, persons[1].age, ....];
var min = arrayOfAges.indexOf(Math.max.apply(Math, arrayOfAges));
var youngestPerson = arrayOfPerson[min];

The problem with this is it is inefficient doesn't seem like the best way. Also it doesn't deal with the fact that there may be a tie for youngest.

Does anyone know of a more native, simpler way to do this?

Your list seems wrong. Is it meant to be an array of objects or single object with person names as a keys? — Heikki
– Heikki, Commented Oct 30, 2014 at 12:02

Heikki · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-30 12:09:44Z

0

You can sort the persons array by age property and pick first one:

var persons = [
    { name: 'Michael', age: 45, position: 'manager' },
    { name: 'Dwight', age: 36, position: 'assistant manager' },
    { name: 'Foo', age: 99, position: 'foo' },
    { name: 'Bar', age: 37, position: 'bar' }
];

persons.sort(function(a, b) {
    return a.age > b.age;
});

console.log('Youngest person: ', persons[0]);

answered Oct 30, 2014 at 12:09

Heikki

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