What is the shortest way to simply sort an array of structs by (arbitrary) field names?

As of Go 1.8 you can now use sort.Slice to sort a slice:

sort.Slice(planets, func(i, j int) bool {
  return planets[i].Axis < planets[j].Axis
})

There is normally no reason to use an array instead of a slice, but in your example you are using an array, so you have to overlay it with a slice (add [:]) to make it work with sort.Slice:

sort.Slice(planets[:], func(i, j int) bool {
  return planets[i].Axis < planets[j].Axis
})

The sorting changes the array, so if you really want you can continue to use the array instead of the slice after the sorting.

UPDATE: This answer relates to older versions of go. For Go 1.8 and newer, see the AndreKR's answer above.

If you want something a bit less verbose than the standard library sort package, you could use the third party github.com/bradfitz/slice package. It uses some tricks to generate the Len and Swap methods needed to sort your slice, so you only need to provide a Less method.

With this package, you can perform the sort with:

slice.Sort(planets[:], func(i, j int) bool {
    return planets[i].Axis < planets[j].Axis
})

The planets[:] part is necessary to produce a slice covering your array. If you make planets a slice instead of an array you could skip that part.

As of Go 1.8, @AndreKR's answer is the better solution.

You can implement a collection type which implements the sort interface.

Here's an example of two such types which allow you to sort either by Axis or Name:

package main

import "log"
import "sort"

// AxisSorter sorts planets by axis.
type AxisSorter []Planet

func (a AxisSorter) Len() int           { return len(a) }
func (a AxisSorter) Swap(i, j int)      { a[i], a[j] = a[j], a[i] }
func (a AxisSorter) Less(i, j int) bool { return a[i].Axis < a[j].Axis }

// NameSorter sorts planets by name.
type NameSorter []Planet

func (a NameSorter) Len() int           { return len(a) }
func (a NameSorter) Swap(i, j int)      { a[i], a[j] = a[j], a[i] }
func (a NameSorter) Less(i, j int) bool { return a[i].Name < a[j].Name }

type Planet struct {
    Name       string  `json:"name"`
    Aphelion   float64 `json:"aphelion"`   // in million km
    Perihelion float64 `json:"perihelion"` // in million km
    Axis       int64   `json:"Axis"`       // in km
    Radius     float64 `json:"radius"`
}

func main() {
    var mars Planet
    mars.Name = "Mars"
    mars.Aphelion = 249.2
    mars.Perihelion = 206.7
    mars.Axis = 227939100
    mars.Radius = 3389.5

    var earth Planet
    earth.Name = "Earth"
    earth.Aphelion = 151.930
    earth.Perihelion = 147.095
    earth.Axis = 149598261
    earth.Radius = 6371.0

    var venus Planet
    venus.Name = "Venus"
    venus.Aphelion = 108.939
    venus.Perihelion = 107.477
    venus.Axis = 108208000
    venus.Radius = 6051.8

    planets := []Planet{mars, venus, earth}
    log.Println("unsorted:", planets)

    sort.Sort(AxisSorter(planets))
    log.Println("by axis:", planets)

    sort.Sort(NameSorter(planets))
    log.Println("by name:", planets)
}