What Should I Look Into?

So I am looking for something for site purposes, but I'm not sure which language(s) are capable of it. I don't know what this is called so I'll provide an example.

List of Cool Animals Below

Name Column, Average Height Column, Average Weight Column, Predator

Row 1: Tiger, #XXX, #XX, Yes
Row 2: ....

So I'd like to be able to sort by things in a variety of ways. Firstly, one would be specified for the columns. Name = alphebetical, height = numerical, predator = yes.

Also, be able to eliminate categories from the equation entire. For instance, someone wants to search by predators and mammals only so they specify that or eliminate other choices.

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I am open to a variety of ways people suggest. One I've seen is classic text-based, another is dropbox and tables, and I'm sure there are more. I haven't worked with this stuff in awhile and it was uncommon when I was more into web design.

Now as long as the material necessary to learn how to do something is available online (doesn't have to be spoonfed, but the basic ideas), I can figure it out. I have no issue with mathematics and such so don't bias your suggestions if you have multiple. Though obviously, easier and faster is usually better presuming there isn't a major advantage from another method.

Thanks

I'm not sure I completely understand your question, but if I were trying to do a sort-by-column feature, I would use PHP for scripting and a MySQL database on the back end.

If you do some Google Searches for 'PHP Sort By Tutorial' or 'PHP Sort Column Script' -- that sort of stuff -- you might find something to get you moving in the right direction.

Another option I might consider, based on the nature of the dataset, is to do the sorting client-side using jQuery and pure JavaScript.

Best of luck.