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define array sort method in javascript

How does the following code sort this array to be in numerical order?     

    var array=[25, 8, 7, 41]

    array.sort(function(a,b){
      return a - b
    })

I know that if the result of the computation is... 

**Less than 0**: "a" is sorted to be a lower index than "b".<br />
**Zero:** "a" and "b" are considered equal, and no sorting is performed.<br />
**Greater than 0:** "b" is sorted to be a lower index than "a".<br />

Is the array sort callback function called many times during the course of the sort?

If so, I'd like to know which two numbers are passed into the function each time. I assumed it first took "25"(a) and "8"(b), followed by "7"(a) and "41"(b), so:

25(a) - 8(b) = 17 (greater than zero, so sort "b" to be a lower index than "a"): 8, 25

7(a) - 41(b) = -34 (less than zero, so sort "a" to be a lower index than "b": 7, 41

How are the two sets of numbers then sorted in relation to one another?

Please help a struggling newbie!

Source by stackoverflow.com #
 
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Tagged: #define #array #sort #method #javascript
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