例如，如果我们想检查当前jQuery版本是否小于1.8，如果version是"1.10.1"，parseFloat($.ui.version) < 1.8)将会给出错误的结果，因为parseFloat("1.10.1")返回1.1。 字符串比较也会出错，因为"1.8" < "1.10"的结果为false。

所以我们需要一个这样的测试

if(versionCompare($.ui.version, "1.8") < 0){
    alert("please update jQuery");
}

下面的函数可以正确地处理这个问题:

/** Compare two dotted version strings (like '10.2.3').
 * @returns {Integer} 0: v1 == v2, -1: v1 < v2, 1: v1 > v2
 */
function versionCompare(v1, v2) {
    var v1parts = ("" + v1).split("."),
        v2parts = ("" + v2).split("."),
        minLength = Math.min(v1parts.length, v2parts.length),
        p1, p2, i;
    // Compare tuple pair-by-pair. 
    for(i = 0; i < minLength; i++) {
        // Convert to integer if possible, because "8" > "10".
        p1 = parseInt(v1parts[i], 10);
        p2 = parseInt(v2parts[i], 10);
        if (isNaN(p1)){ p1 = v1parts[i]; } 
        if (isNaN(p2)){ p2 = v2parts[i]; } 
        if (p1 == p2) {
            continue;
        }else if (p1 > p2) {
            return 1;
        }else if (p1 < p2) {
            return -1;
        }
        // one operand is NaN
        return NaN;
    }
    // The longer tuple is always considered 'greater'
    if (v1parts.length === v2parts.length) {
        return 0;
    }
    return (v1parts.length < v2parts.length) ? -1 : 1;
}

下面是一些例子:

// compare dotted version strings
console.assert(versionCompare("1.8",      "1.8.1")    <   0);
console.assert(versionCompare("1.8.3",    "1.8.1")    >   0);
console.assert(versionCompare("1.8",      "1.10")     <   0);
console.assert(versionCompare("1.10.1",   "1.10.1")   === 0);
// Longer is considered 'greater'
console.assert(versionCompare("1.10.1.0", "1.10.1")   >   0);
console.assert(versionCompare("1.10.1",   "1.10.1.0") <   0);
// Strings pairs are accepted
console.assert(versionCompare("1.x",      "1.x")      === 0);
// Mixed int/string pairs return NaN
console.assert(isNaN(versionCompare("1.8", "1.x")));
//works with plain numbers
console.assert(versionCompare("4", 3)   >   0);

看到这里的现场示例和测试套件: http://jsfiddle.net/mar10/8KjvP/

这里有一个面向对象的有趣方法:

    function versionString(str) {
    var parts = str.split('.');
    this.product = parts.length > 0 ? parts[0] * 1 : 0;
    this.major = parts.length > 1 ? parts[1] * 1 : 0;
    this.minor = parts.length > 2 ? parts[2] * 1 : 0;
    this.build = parts.length > 3 ? parts[3] * 1 : 0;

    this.compareTo = function(vStr){
        vStr = this._isVersionString(vStr) ? vStr : new versionString(vStr);
        return this.compare(this, vStr);
    };

    this.toString = function(){
        return this.product + "." + this.major + "." + this.minor + "." + this.build;
    }

    this.compare = function (str1, str2) {
        var vs1 = this._isVersionString(str1) ? str1 : new versionString(str1);
        var vs2 = this._isVersionString(str2) ? str2 : new versionString(str2);

        if (this._compareNumbers(vs1.product, vs2.product) == 0) {
            if (this._compareNumbers(vs1.major, vs2.major) == 0) {
                if (this._compareNumbers(vs1.minor, vs2.minor) == 0) {
                    return this._compareNumbers(vs1.build, vs2.build);
                } else {
                    return this._compareNumbers(vs1.minor, vs2.minor);
                }
            } else {
                return this._compareNumbers(vs1.major, vs2.major);
            }
        } else {
            return this._compareNumbers(vs1.product, vs2.product);
        }
    };

    this._isVersionString = function (str) {
        return str !== undefined && str.build !== undefined;
    };

    this._compareNumbers = function (n1, n2) {
        if (n1 > n2) {
            return 1;
        } else if (n1 < n2) {
            return -1;
        } else {
            return 0;
        }
    };
}

还有一些测试:

var v1 = new versionString("1.0");
var v2 = new versionString("1.0.1");
var v3 = new versionString("2.0");
var v4 = new versionString("2.0.0.1");
var v5 = new versionString("2.0.1");


alert(v1.compareTo("1.4.2"));
alert(v3.compareTo(v1));
alert(v5.compareTo(v4));
alert(v4.compareTo(v5));
alert(v5.compareTo(v5));

最简单的方法是使用localeCompare:

a.localeCompare(b, undefined, { numeric: true, sensitivity: 'base' })

这将返回:

0:版本字符串相等 1: a版本大于b版本 -1:版本b大于版本a

基于Idan的精彩回答，下面的函数semverCompare通过了语义版本2.0.0的大多数情况。了解更多要点。

function semverCompare(a, b) {
    if (a.startsWith(b + "-")) return -1
    if (b.startsWith(a + "-")) return  1
    return a.localeCompare(b, undefined, { numeric: true, sensitivity: "case", caseFirst: "upper" })
}

它返回:

-1: a < b 0: a == b 1: a > b

我已经创建了这个解决方案，我希望你觉得它有用:

https://runkit.com/ecancino/5f3c6c59593d23001485992e

const quantify = max => (n, i) => n * (+max.slice(0, max.length - i))

const add = (a, b) => a + b

const calc = s => s.
    split('.').
    map(quantify('1000000')).
    reduce(add, 0)

const sortVersions = unsortedVersions => unsortedVersions
    .map(version => ({ version, order: calc(version) }))
    .sort((a, b) => a.order - b.order)
    .reverse()
    .map(o => o.version)

你可以遍历每个以句点分隔的字符并将其转换为int类型:

var parts = versionString.split('.');

for (var i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) {
  var value = parseInt(parts[i]);
  // do stuffs here.. perhaps build a numeric version variable?
}