Comparison: sort, order and arrange

Comparison, Data Science

  • vector (or factor)

(x <- swiss$Education[1:20])
##  [1] 12  9  5  7 15  7  7  8  7 13  6 12  7 12  5  2  8 28 20  9
# sort the vector
sort(x)
##  [1]  2  5  5  6  7  7  7  7  7  8  8  9  9 12 12 12 13 15 20 28
# partial sorting
sort(x, partial = c(10, 15))
##  [1]  2  5  5  7  7  7  7  6  7  8  8  9  9 12 12 12 13 28 20 15

Partial sorting in R is different with that in Wikipedia. See Stack Overflow

  • data.frame

  1. order
head(mtcars)
##                    mpg cyl disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
## Mazda RX4         21.0   6  160 110 3.90 2.620 16.46  0  1    4    4
## Mazda RX4 Wag     21.0   6  160 110 3.90 2.875 17.02  0  1    4    4
## Datsun 710        22.8   4  108  93 3.85 2.320 18.61  1  1    4    1
## Hornet 4 Drive    21.4   6  258 110 3.08 3.215 19.44  1  0    3    1
## Hornet Sportabout 18.7   8  360 175 3.15 3.440 17.02  0  0    3    2
## Valiant           18.1   6  225 105 2.76 3.460 20.22  1  0    3    1
# sort by mpg
Rank1 <- mtcars[order(mtcars$mpg), ]
head(Rank1)
##                      mpg cyl disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
## Cadillac Fleetwood  10.4   8  472 205 2.93 5.250 17.98  0  0    3    4
## Lincoln Continental 10.4   8  460 215 3.00 5.424 17.82  0  0    3    4
## Camaro Z28          13.3   8  350 245 3.73 3.840 15.41  0  0    3    4
## Duster 360          14.3   8  360 245 3.21 3.570 15.84  0  0    3    4
## Chrysler Imperial   14.7   8  440 230 3.23 5.345 17.42  0  0    3    4
## Maserati Bora       15.0   8  301 335 3.54 3.570 14.60  0  1    5    8
# sort by cyl, then by hp
Rank2 <- mtcars[order(mtcars$cyl, mtcars$hp), ]
head(Rank2)
##                 mpg cyl  disp hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
## Honda Civic    30.4   4  75.7 52 4.93 1.615 18.52  1  1    4    2
## Merc 240D      24.4   4 146.7 62 3.69 3.190 20.00  1  0    4    2
## Toyota Corolla 33.9   4  71.1 65 4.22 1.835 19.90  1  1    4    1
## Fiat 128       32.4   4  78.7 66 4.08 2.200 19.47  1  1    4    1
## Fiat X1-9      27.3   4  79.0 66 4.08 1.935 18.90  1  1    4    1
## Porsche 914-2  26.0   4 120.3 91 4.43 2.140 16.70  0  1    5    2
# reverse sort
Rank3 <- mtcars[order(-mtcars$cyl, mtcars$hp), ]
head(Rank3)
##                    mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
## Dodge Challenger  15.5   8 318.0 150 2.76 3.520 16.87  0  0    3    2
## AMC Javelin       15.2   8 304.0 150 3.15 3.435 17.30  0  0    3    2
## Hornet Sportabout 18.7   8 360.0 175 3.15 3.440 17.02  0  0    3    2
## Pontiac Firebird  19.2   8 400.0 175 3.08 3.845 17.05  0  0    3    2
## Merc 450SE        16.4   8 275.8 180 3.07 4.070 17.40  0  0    3    3
## Merc 450SL        17.3   8 275.8 180 3.07 3.730 17.60  0  0    3    3

If data.frame mtcars is attach(), then

attach(mtcars)
mpgRank <- mtcars[order(mpg), ]
head(mpgRank)
##                      mpg cyl disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
## Cadillac Fleetwood  10.4   8  472 205 2.93 5.250 17.98  0  0    3    4
## Lincoln Continental 10.4   8  460 215 3.00 5.424 17.82  0  0    3    4
## Camaro Z28          13.3   8  350 245 3.73 3.840 15.41  0  0    3    4
## Duster 360          14.3   8  360 245 3.21 3.570 15.84  0  0    3    4
## Chrysler Imperial   14.7   8  440 230 3.23 5.345 17.42  0  0    3    4
## Maserati Bora       15.0   8  301 335 3.54 3.570 14.60  0  1    5    8
  1. dplyr::arrange
library(dplyr)
Rank4 <- arrange(mtcars, mpg)
head(Rank4)
##    mpg cyl disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
## 1 10.4   8  472 205 2.93 5.250 17.98  0  0    3    4
## 2 10.4   8  460 215 3.00 5.424 17.82  0  0    3    4
## 3 13.3   8  350 245 3.73 3.840 15.41  0  0    3    4
## 4 14.3   8  360 245 3.21 3.570 15.84  0  0    3    4
## 5 14.7   8  440 230 3.23 5.345 17.42  0  0    3    4
## 6 15.0   8  301 335 3.54 3.570 14.60  0  1    5    8
Rank5 <- arrange(mtcars, cyl, hp)
head(Rank5)
##    mpg cyl  disp hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
## 1 30.4   4  75.7 52 4.93 1.615 18.52  1  1    4    2
## 2 24.4   4 146.7 62 3.69 3.190 20.00  1  0    4    2
## 3 33.9   4  71.1 65 4.22 1.835 19.90  1  1    4    1
## 4 32.4   4  78.7 66 4.08 2.200 19.47  1  1    4    1
## 5 27.3   4  79.0 66 4.08 1.935 18.90  1  1    4    1
## 6 26.0   4 120.3 91 4.43 2.140 16.70  0  1    5    2
Rank6 <- arrange(mtcars, -cyl, hp)
head(Rank6)
##    mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
## 1 15.5   8 318.0 150 2.76 3.520 16.87  0  0    3    2
## 2 15.2   8 304.0 150 3.15 3.435 17.30  0  0    3    2
## 3 18.7   8 360.0 175 3.15 3.440 17.02  0  0    3    2
## 4 19.2   8 400.0 175 3.08 3.845 17.05  0  0    3    2
## 5 16.4   8 275.8 180 3.07 4.070 17.40  0  0    3    3
## 6 17.3   8 275.8 180 3.07 3.730 17.60  0  0    3    3
  1. difference between order and arrange
    • row names: order keep the row names of mtcars, while not in dplyr::arrange
    • efficency: dplyr::arrange tends to be faster when there are lots of rows.

Refer to
1. Cookbook for R
2. Quick-R

R

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