wppaste
WordPress

wp_list_sort( array $input_list, string|array $orderby = array(), string $order = 'ASC', bool $preserve_keys = false ): array

Since
4.7.0
Source
wp-includes/functions.php:5507
Sorts an array of objects or arrays based on one or more orderby arguments.

Compatibility

WordPress
since 4.7.0
PHP
7.4–8.6-dev
  • 6.7.7
  • 6.8.8
  • 6.9.7
  • 7.0.4
  • 7.1.0

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$input_listarray
An array of objects or arrays to sort.
$orderbystring|arrayoptional
Either the field name to order by or an array of multiple orderby fields as $orderby => $order.
Default empty array.Default: array()
$orderstringoptional
Either 'ASC' or 'DESC'. Only used if $orderby is a string. Default 'ASC'.Default: 'ASC'
$preserve_keysbooloptional
Whether to preserve keys. Default false.Default: false

Return value

array
The sorted array.

Performance profile

How much work a call to wp_list_sort() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class
Trivial

Touches nothing outside its own arguments.

Scaling
Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions
7–16

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 17.

Plugin surface
None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by
6

6 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What one call costs · 2 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost wp_list_sort() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

WhenInstructionsCalls it makes
!is_array($input_list)7none
is_array($input_list)16->sort()

Across PHP versions

Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 17 instructions, 7–16 executed per call, 1 branch. The work does not change between versions.

An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.

Uses · 1

Used by · 6

Source code

function wp_list_sort( $input_list, $orderby = array(), $order = 'ASC', $preserve_keys = false ) {	if ( ! is_array( $input_list ) ) {		return array();	} 	$util = new WP_List_Util( $input_list ); 	return $util->sort( $orderby, $order, $preserve_keys );}

Changelog

Introduced in 4.7.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

  1. 6.7.7
  2. 6.8.8
  3. 6.9.7
  4. 7.0.4
  5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data
Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.1.0 tag, from src/wp-includes/functions.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.
Corrections
Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.