How can you sort an array without mutating the original array?

Let's suppose I wanted a sort function that returns a sorted copy of the inputted array. I naively tried this

function sort(arr) {
  return arr.sort();
}

and I tested it with this, which shows that my sort method is mutating the array.

var a = [2,3,7,5,3,7,1,3,4];
sort(a);
alert(a);  //alerts "1,2,3,3,3,4,5,7,7"

I also tried this approach

function sort(arr) {
  return Array.prototype.sort(arr);
}

but it doesn't work at all.

Is there a straightforward way around this, preferably a way that doesn't require hand-rolling my own sorting algorithm or copying every element of the array into a new one?

You need to copy the array before you sort it. One way with es6:

const sorted = [...arr].sort();

The spread-syntax as array literal (copied from mdn):

var arr = [1, 2, 3];
var arr2 = [...arr]; // like arr.slice()

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Spread_operator

Just copy the array. There are many ways to do that:

function sort(arr) {
  return arr.concat().sort();
}

// Or:
return Array.prototype.slice.call(arr).sort(); // For array-like objects

Try the following

function sortCopy(arr) { 
  return arr.slice(0).sort();
}

The slice(0) expression creates a copy of the array starting at element 0.

You can use slice with no arguments to copy an array:

var foo,
    bar;
foo = [3,1,2];
bar = foo.slice().sort();

You can also do this

d = [20, 30, 10]
e = Array.from(d)
e.sort()

This way d will not get mutated.

function sorted(arr) {
  temp = Array.from(arr)
  return temp.sort()
}

//Use it like this
x = [20, 10, 100]
console.log(sorted(x))

Anyone who wants to do a deep copy (e.g. if your array contains objects) can use:

let arrCopy = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(arr))

Then you can sort arrCopy without changing arr.

arrCopy.sort((obj1, obj2) => obj1.id > obj2.id)

Please note: this can be slow for very large arrays.

Try this to sort the numbers. This does not mutate the original array.

function sort(arr) {
  return arr.slice(0).sort((a,b) => a-b);
}

There's a new tc39 proposal, which adds a toSorted method to Array that returns a copy of the array and doesn't modify the original.

For example:

const sequence = [3, 2, 1];
sequence.toSorted(); // => [1, 2, 3]
sequence; // => [3, 2, 1]

As it's currently in stage 3, it will likely be implemented in browser engines soon, but in the meantime a polyfill is available here or in core-js.

I think that my answer is a bit too late but if someone come across this issue again the solution may be useful.

I can propose yet another approach with a native function which returns a sorted array.

This code still mutates the original object but instead of native behaviour this implementation returns a sorted array.

// Remember that it is not recommended to extend build-in prototypes 
// or even worse override native functions.  
// You can create a seperate function if you like

// You can specify any name instead of "sorted" (Python-like)

// Check for existence of the method in prototype
if (typeof Array.prototype.sorted == "undefined") {
  // If it does not exist you provide your own method
  Array.prototype.sorted = function () {
    Array.prototype.sort.apply(this, arguments);
    return this;
  };
}

This way of solving the problem was ideal in my situation.