How to Sort List by Date in Dart/Flutter

In this example, we are going to show you how to sort the Array List of DateTime and Date string in both ascending and descending order in Dart or Flutter. See the example below for more details.

How to Sort List of Date String in Ascending Order:

List<String> datestrings = [
  "2021-12-11", 
  "2020-02-12", 
  "2010-01-23",
  "2013-01-14",
];

datestrings.sort((a, b){ //sorting in ascending order
    return DateTime.parse(a).compareTo(DateTime.parse(b));
});

print(datestrings);
//output: [2010-01-23, 2013-01-14, 2020-02-12, 2021-12-11]

How to Sort List of Date String in Descending Order:

List<String> datestrings = [
  "2021-12-11", 
  "2020-02-12", 
  "2010-01-23",
  "2013-01-14",
];

datestrings.sort((a, b){ //sorting in descending order
    return DateTime.parse(b).compareTo(DateTime.parse(a));
});
print(datestrings);
//output: [2021-12-11, 2020-02-12, 2013-01-14, 2010-01-23]

To sort List on Descending order in Dart, just swap the place of "a" and "b".

How to Sort List of DateTime in Ascending Order:

List<DateTime> dates = [
  DateTime.parse("2021-12-11"), 
  DateTime.parse("2020-02-12"), 
  DateTime.parse("2010-01-23"),
];

dates.sort((a, b){ //sorting in ascending order
    return a.compareTo(b);
});
print(dates);
//output: [2010-01-23 00:00:00.000, 2020-02-12 00:00:00.000, 2021-12-11 00:00:00.000]

How to Sort List of DateTime in Descending Order:

List<DateTime> dates = [
  DateTime.parse("2021-12-11"), 
  DateTime.parse("2020-02-12"), 
  DateTime.parse("2010-01-23"),
];

dates.sort((a, b){ //sorting in descending order
    return b.compareTo(a);
});
print(dates);
//output: [2021-12-11 00:00:00.000, 2020-02-12 00:00:00.000, 2010-01-23 00:00:00.000]

Swap the position of "a" and "b" to sort List in descending order.

Flutter/Dart Code Example:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

void main() {
  runApp( MaterialApp(
       home: Home()
  ));
}

class Home extends  StatefulWidget {
  @override
  State<Home> createState() => _HomeState();
}

class _HomeState extends State<Home> {

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {

    List<String> datestrings = [
      "2021-12-11", 
      "2020-02-12", 
      "2010-01-23",
      "2013-01-14",
    ];

    datestrings.sort((a, b){ //sorting in ascending order
        return DateTime.parse(a).compareTo(DateTime.parse(b));
    });

    return Scaffold(
         appBar: AppBar(
            title: Text("Sorting Dates in Flutter"),
            backgroundColor: Colors.redAccent,
         ),
          body: Container(
             alignment: Alignment.center,
             padding: EdgeInsets.all(20),
             child: Column(
               children:datestrings.map((dateone){
                  return Container(
                    child: Card(
                       child:Container( 
                         width: double.infinity,
                         padding: EdgeInsets.all(15),
                         child: Text(dateone, style: TextStyle(fontSize: 18))),
                       ),
                  );
               }).toList(),
             ),
          )
      );
  }
}

Output Screenshot:

In this way, you can soft Array List of Date String or DateTime in Dart/Flutter App.