Question

If I manually create an array with

array = ["2","1","3"]

array.sort will return a sorted version of the array.

But if I create an array by using

array2 = ["213".split(//)]

or

array2 = []
array2 << "213".split(//)

array2.sort will return the unsorted array.

Why doesn’t this work? Are the arrays created like that somehow different, and if yes, how?

Answer 1

You define array2 as [“213”.split(//)]. This puts an array ([“2″,”1″,”3”]) inside an array. The output is:

array = [“213”.split(//)]
=> [[“2”, “1”, “3”]]

When you try and sort that, it sorts the “bigger” array: the one with one element!
This works, though:

array = “213”.split(//)
=> [“2”, “1”, “3”]
array.sort
=> [“1”, “2”, “3”]