how to sort array inside collection record in mongoDB

Starting in Mongo 5.2, it's the exact use case for the new $sortArray aggregation operator:

// {
//   name: "Aurelia Menendez",
//   scores: [
//     { type: "exam",     score: 60.06 }
//     { type: "quiz",     score: 52.79 }
//     { type: "homework", score: 71.76 }
//     { type: "homework", score: 34.85 }
//   ]
// }
db.collection.aggregate([
  { $set: {
    scores: {
      $sortArray: {
        input: "$scores",
        sortBy: { score: -1 }
      }
    }
  }}
])
// {
//   name: "Aurelia Menendez",
//   scores: [
//     { type: "homework", score: 71.76 },
//     { type: "exam",     score: 60.06 },
//     { type: "quiz",     score: 52.79 },
//     { type: "homework", score: 34.85 }
//   ]
// }

---

This:

• sorts ($sortArray) the scores array (input: "$scores")
• by applying a sort on scores (sortBy: { score: -1 })
• without having to apply a combination of expensive $unwind, $sort and $group stages

You will need to manipulate the embedded array in your application code or using the new Aggregation Framework in MongoDB 2.2.

Example aggregation in the mongo shell:

db.students.aggregate(
    // Initial document match (uses index, if a suitable one is available)
    { $match: {
        _id : 1
    }},

    // Expand the scores array into a stream of documents
    { $unwind: '$scores' },

    // Filter to 'homework' scores 
    { $match: {
        'scores.type': 'homework'
    }},

    // Sort in descending order
    { $sort: {
        'scores.score': -1
    }}
)

Sample output:

{
    "result" : [
        {
            "_id" : 1,
            "name" : "Aurelia Menendez",
            "scores" : {
                "type" : "homework",
                "score" : 71.76133439165544
            }
        },
        {
            "_id" : 1,
            "name" : "Aurelia Menendez",
            "scores" : {
                "type" : "homework",
                "score" : 34.85718117893772
            }
        }
    ],
    "ok" : 1
}

Since this question can be managed in different ways i want to say that another solution is "insert and sort", in this way you will get the Ordered array at the moment you will made a Find().

Consider this data:

{
   "_id" : 5,
   "quizzes" : [
      { "wk": 1, "score" : 10 },
      { "wk": 2, "score" : 8 },
      { "wk": 3, "score" : 5 },
      { "wk": 4, "score" : 6 }
   ]
}

Here we will update the Document, make the Sort.

db.students.update(
   { _id: 5 },
   {
     $push: {
       quizzes: {
          $each: [ { wk: 5, score: 8 }, { wk: 6, score: 7 }, { wk: 7, score: 6 } ],
          $sort: { score: -1 },
          $slice: 3 // keep the first 3 values
       }
     }
   }
)

Result is:

{
  "_id" : 5,
  "quizzes" : [
     { "wk" : 1, "score" : 10 },
     { "wk" : 2, "score" : 8 },
     { "wk" : 5, "score" : 8 }
  ]
}

Documentation: https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/reference/operator/update/sort/#up._S_sort

That's how we could solve this with JS and mongo console:

db.students.find({"scores.type": "homework"}).forEach(
  function(s){
    var sortedScores = s.scores.sort(
      function(a, b){
        return a.score<b.score && a.type=="homework";
      }
    );
    var lowestHomeworkScore = sortedScores[sortedScores.length-1].score;
    db.students.update({_id: s._id},{$pull: {scores: {score: lowestHomeworkScore}}}, {multi: true});
  })