Sorting Results in MongoDB

Step 1: Switch to Your Database

Before sorting your data, ensure that you're using the correct database. You can switch to your database with the following command:

use myDatabase

Step 2: View Sample Data

Let’s assume you have a students collection containing the following documents:

db.students.find().pretty()

Sample Data:

[
  { "_id": 1, "name": "Alice", "age": 22, "score": 85 },
  { "_id": 2, "name": "Bob", "age": 25, "score": 90 },
  { "_id": 3, "name": "Charlie", "age": 23, "score": 88 },
  { "_id": 4, "name": "David", "age": 24, "score": 92 }
]

Step 3: Sorting in Ascending Order

MongoDB sorts data in ascending order (default) when you pass the value 1. You can sort by any field, such as age or score.

Example 1: Sort by `age` in ascending order:

db.students.find().sort({ age: 1 })

✅ Result: This will return the documents ordered by the age field in ascending order (youngest first).
Output:

[
  { "_id": 1, "name": "Alice", "age": 22, "score": 85 },
  { "_id": 3, "name": "Charlie", "age": 23, "score": 88 },
  { "_id": 4, "name": "David", "age": 24, "score": 92 },
  { "_id": 2, "name": "Bob", "age": 25, "score": 90 }
]

Step 4: Sorting in Descending Order

To sort in descending order, pass the value -1 in the sort() method.

Example 2: Sort by `score` in descending order:

db.students.find().sort({ score: -1 })

✅ Result: This will return the documents ordered by the score field in descending order (highest score first).
Output:

[
  { "_id": 4, "name": "David", "age": 24, "score": 92 },
  { "_id": 2, "name": "Bob", "age": 25, "score": 90 },
  { "_id": 3, "name": "Charlie", "age": 23, "score": 88 },
  { "_id": 1, "name": "Alice", "age": 22, "score": 85 }
]

Step 5: Sorting by Multiple Fields

You can sort by multiple fields. When sorting by multiple fields, the first field will have the highest priority, and the second field will be used for tie-breaking.

Example 3: Sort first by `age` in ascending order, then by `score` in descending order:

db.students.find().sort({ age: 1, score: -1 })

✅ Result: This will return documents ordered by age in ascending order, and if two or more documents have the same age, they will be sorted by score in descending order.
Output:

[
  { "_id": 1, "name": "Alice", "age": 22, "score": 85 },
  { "_id": 3, "name": "Charlie", "age": 23, "score": 88 },
  { "_id": 4, "name": "David", "age": 24, "score": 92 },
  { "_id": 2, "name": "Bob", "age": 25, "score": 90 }
]

Step 6: Combine Sorting with Queries

You can combine sorting with queries to filter and sort the data at the same time.

Example 4: Find students with `age` greater than 22 and sort them by `score` in descending order:

db.students.find({ age: { $gt: 22 } }).sort({ score: -1 })

✅ Result: This will find students older than 22 and sort them by score in descending order.
Output:

[
  { "_id": 4, "name": "David", "age": 24, "score": 92 },
  { "_id": 2, "name": "Bob", "age": 25, "score": 90 },
  { "_id": 3, "name": "Charlie", "age": 23, "score": 88 }
]

Step 7: Limit the Number of Sorted Results

You can limit the number of results returned by combining the limit() method with sort().

Example 5: Get the top 2 students sorted by `score` in descending order:

db.students.find().sort({ score: -1 }).limit(2)

✅ Result: This will return the top 2 students with the highest scores.
Output:

[
  { "_id": 4, "name": "David", "age": 24, "score": 92 },
  { "_id": 2, "name": "Bob", "age": 25, "score": 90 }
]

Step 8: Verify Sorted Results

After executing the queries, always verify the results using

db.students.find().pretty()

Conclusion

Sorting results in MongoDB is a simple but powerful feature that allows you to organize your data in a meaningful way.
✅ Single-field Sorting: Use 1 for ascending and -1 for descending.
✅ Multiple-field Sorting: Combine multiple fields for more complex ordering.
✅ Query and Sort Together: Filter and sort data in a single query.
✅ Limit Results: Use limit() to restrict the number of results returned.

By mastering sorting in MongoDB, you can enhance your queries and efficiently retrieve organized data! 🌟

MONGODB