This will be implemented in Javascript (jQuery) but I suppose the method could be used in any language.

I have an array of items and I need to perform a sort. However there are some items in the array that have to be kept in the same position (same index).

The array in question is build from a list of <li> elements and I'm using .data() values attached to the list item as the value on which to sort.

What approach would be best here?

<ul id="fruit">
  <li class="stay">bananas</li>
  <li>oranges</li>
  <li>pears</li>
  <li>apples</li>
  <li class="stay">grapes</li>
  <li>pineapples</li>
</ul>

<script type="text/javascript">
    var sugarcontent = new Array('32','21','11','45','8','99');
    $('#fruit li').each(function(i,e){
       $(this).data(sugarcontent[i]);
    })
</script>

I want the list sorted with the following result...

<ul id="fruit">
      <li class="stay">bananas</li> <!-- score = 32 -->
      <li>pineapples</li> <!-- score = 99 -->
      <li>apples</li> <!-- score = 45 -->
      <li>oranges</li> <!-- score = 21 -->
      <li class="stay">grapes</li> <!-- score = 8 -->
      <li>pears</li> <!-- score = 11 -->
  </ul>

Thanks!