How to use the Python List Sort function, and sorted function with practical examples. Python Sort Objects like Lists, Dictionary, Tuples, Sets, and Strings is one of the most commonly asked question in Python programming.
In Python programming, we have functions to sort the objects, and they are sort and sorted. The sort function works only in list items, and use sorted for the remaining objects. The basic syntax behind this sort and sorted functions in Python are
# Python Sort Syntax # Sort List Items in Ascending Order list_Name.sort() # Sort List Items in Reverse Order or Descending Order list_Name.sort(reverse = True) # Sort List Items using Functions list_Name.sort(key = Function_Name) # Sort List Items using Functions in Reverse Order list_Name.sort(reverse = True, key = Function_Name) # Sorted function Syntax # Sort Items in Ascending Order sorted(Object_Name) # Sort Items in Reverse Order or Descending Order sorted(Object_Name, reverse = True) # Sort Items using Functions sorted(Object_Name, key = Function_Name) # Sort Items in Reverse Order using Functions sorted(Object_Name, reverse = True, key = Function_Name)
Here, Function_Name can be any user defined function. Or you can use any Python built-in function like len, min, max etc.
Python Sort List Items Examples
The following examples show you, how to sort List items in ascending & Descending order using list sort function.
Sort List Items Example 1
The python sort function works on list items to sort them in ascending order. Below code will sort the elements in a integer list
In this example, first, we declared an integer list. Next, we used sort function to sort those integer list in ascending. Next, we are using sort function to sort the string list. Here, sort() will use alphabetical order to sort string list.
TIP: Please refer Sort article to understand everything about this sort function on List items.
# Python Sort List Example
listexample = [13, 98, 45, 125, 6, 22, 9, 78]
print("\n Original List = ", listexample)
listexample.sort()
print("The Sorted List = ", listexample)
liststring = ['orange', 'banana', 'kiwi', 'grape', 'blackberry']
print("\n Original List String = ", liststring)
liststring.sort()
print("The Sorted String List = ", liststring)OUTPUT
Python Sort List Reverse Example 2
The sort function has an argument called reverse = True. This allows us to sort the list items in descending order.
Below code is same as the above example. However, this time, we are using the reverse = true. It means, both integer list elements, and string list items will be sorted in Descending order or reverse order.
# Python Sort List Example
listexample = [13, 98, 125, 22, 9, 78]
print("\n Original List = ", listexample)
listexample.sort(reverse = True)
print("The Sorted List = ", listexample)
liststring = ['orange', 'blackberry', 'kiwi', 'grape', 'banana']
print("\n Original List String = ", liststring)
liststring.sort(reverse = True)
print("The Sorted String List = ", liststring)OUTPUT
Python sort List Example 3
The List sort function has another argument called key. This key accepts any function, and that function determines the sorting factor.
In this Python sort example, we created a function called secondValue. This returns the second argument from the nested list. Next, we are using this function as the key value. It means, list example will be sorted based on the second value in the nested list.
In the next couple of lines, we used the reverse argument, along with this key argument. It means, list items are sorted in the descending order based on the second value in the nested list.
# Python Sort Example
def secondValue(value):
return value[1]
listexample = [[17, 222], [222, 13], [14, 151], [99, 77]]
print("\n Original List = ", listexample)
# Sort List in Ascending Order using First item
listexample.sort()
print("\nAscending Order using First = ", listexample)
# Sort List in Ascending Order using Second item
listexample.sort(key = secondValue)
print("Ascending Order using Second = ", listexample)
# Sort Python List in Descending Order
# Sort List in Descending Order using First item
listexample.sort(reverse = True)
print("\nDescending Sorted List = ", listexample)
# Sort List in Descending Order using Second item
listexample.sort(reverse = True, key = secondValue)
print("Descending Sorted List = ", listexample)OUTPUT
Sort Tuple in Python Examples
The following examples show you, how to sort Tuple items in ascending, and Descending order.
Sort Tuple Example 1
The python sort function will sort the given list in ascending order. Below code will sort the elements in a integer list
In this example, first, we declared a string list. Next, we used python list sort function to sort them in ascending order. Here, sort function will use alphabetical order to sort string list.
# Python Sort Tuple Example
tupleIntexample = (9, -5, 7, 0, 24, -1, 2, 10)
print("\n Original Integer Tuple = ", tupleIntexample)
ascSorted = sorted(tupleIntexample)
print("The Sorted Integer Tuple = ", ascSorted)
# Python sort Tuple in Descending Order
descSorted = sorted(tupleIntexample, reverse = True)
print("Sorted Integer Tuple in Descending = ", descSorted)OUTPUT
Python Sort Tuple Reverse Example 2
The sorted function also has an argument called reverse = True. This will sort the tuple items in reverse order or descending order.
Below code sort the integer and string tuple elements in Descending order or reverse order.
# Python Sort Tuple Example
tupleexample = ('orange', 'banana', 'kiwi', 'grape', 'blackberry')
print("\n Original Tuple = ", tupleexample)
ascSorted = sorted(tupleexample)
print("The Sorted Tuple = ", ascSorted)
# Python sort Tuple in Descending Order
descSorted = sorted(tupleexample, reverse = True)
print("Descending Sorted Tuple = ", descSorted)OUTPUT
Python sort Tuple Example 3
The sorted function has another argument called key. This key argument accepts any function, and determine the sorting factor.
In this example, we created a function called to find the length of a string. Next, we used this length function as the key value. It means, tuple items will be sorted based on the length in the ascending order.
Next, we used the reverse along with this key argument. This will sort the tuple items in descending order using their length.
# Python Sort Tuple Example
def length(item):
return len(item)
tupleexample = ('orange', 'kiwi', 'grape', 'blackberry')
print("\n Original Tuple = ", tupleexample)
ascSorted = sorted(tupleexample, key = length)
print("Sorted Tuple by Length = ", ascSorted)
# Python sort Tuple in Descending Order
descSorted = sorted(tupleexample, reverse = True, key = length)
print("Desc Sorted Tuple by Length = ", descSorted)OUTPUT
Python sort Tuple Example 4
Python allows you to use any built-in functions as the key argument. This is same as above example. However, we are using the len function as the key argument. It means, len function is replaced by the user defined function length.
# Python Sort Tuple Example
tupleexm1 = ('orange', 'kiwi', 'grape', 'blackberry')
print("\n Original Tuple = ", tupleexm1)
ascSorted = sorted(tupleexm1, key = len)
print("Sorted Tuple by Length = ", ascSorted)
# Python sort Tuple in Descending Order
descSorted = sorted(tupleexm1, reverse = True, key = len)
print("Desc Sorted Tuple by Length = ", descSorted)OUTPUT
Python Set Sorted Examples
The following examples show you, how to sort set items in ascending, and Descending order.
Python Set Sorted Example 1
The python sorted function is the one that you can use to sort the set items in ascending order and Descending order.
In this example, first, we declared a set of positive and negative value. Next, we used the sorted function to sort them in ascending order. Lastly, we used sorted function along with reverse argument to sort set in descending order.
# Python Sort Set Example
setExample = {22, -15, 17, 0, 12, -4, 7, 10}
print("\n Original Set = ", setExample)
print("\nThe Sorted Set = ", sorted(setExample))
# Python sort Set in Descending Order
descSet = sorted(setExample, reverse = True)
print("Sorted Set in Descending = ", descSet)OUTPUT
Python Set Sorted Reverse Example 2
In this example, we are using the sorted function on set of string values. Below code will sort the string set in ascending, and descending order.
# Python Sort Set Example
setStringExample = {'mango', 'kiwi', 'apple', 'orange', 'banana'}
print("\n Original Set = ", setStringExample)
print("\nSorted String Set = ", sorted(setStringExample))
# Python sort Set in Descending Order
descStrSet = sorted(setStringExample, reverse = True)
print("Sorted Set in Desc = ", descStrSet)OUTPUT
Python Set Sorted Example 3
This Python sort example show you, how use key argument on set items. Here, we declared a function to find the string length. Next, we are using this function as the key value on set items. It means, set elements will be sorted based on the length in the ascending order.
In the next line, we used the reverse argument also. This will sort the set elements in descending order based on their length.
# Python Sort Set Example
def stringlength(item):
return len(item)
setCountryExample = {'USA', 'UK', 'Canada', 'India', 'Australia'}
print("\n Original Set = ", setCountryExample)
ascCountrySet = sorted(setCountryExample, key = stringlength)
print("\nSorted String Set = ", ascCountrySet)
# Python sort Set in Descending Order
descCountrySet = sorted(setCountryExample, reverse = True, key = stringlength)
print("Sorted Set in Desc = ", descCountrySet)OUTPUT
Python sort Set reverse Example 4
This example is same as above example. We just replaced the user defined function with the built-in common len function.
# Python Sort Set Example
setCountryExample = {'USA', 'UK', 'Canada', 'India', 'Australia'}
print("\n Original Set = ", setCountryExample)
ascCountrySet = sorted(setCountryExample, key = len)
print("\nSorted String Set = ", ascCountrySet)
# Python sort Set in Descending Order
descCountrySet = sorted(setCountryExample, reverse = True, key = len)
print("Sorted Set in Desc = ", descCountrySet)OUTPUT
Python Sort String Examples
This section show you, how to sort strings in ascending, and Descending order.
Python Sort String Example 1
You can’t use sort or sorted function directly on the string items. To achieve the same, first, we sorted them in ascending order. This will split string into individual characters. Next, we used the join function to join the individual characters.
First, we declared a string. Next, we used sorted, and join functions to sort them in ascending order. Here, sorted function use the alphabetical order to sort the characters in a string.
Next, we are using the reverse= true agent to sort the string in Descending order.
# Python Sort String Example
stringExample = 'tutorialgateway'
print("\n Original String = ", stringExample)
newString = ''.join(sorted(stringExample))
print("\n Sorted String in Ascending = ", newString)
descString = ''.join(sorted(stringExample, reverse = True))
print("\n Sorted String in Descending = ", descString)OUTPUT
Python Sort String reverse Example 2
The Python sort example is same as above example. However, this time, we are allowing the user to enter their own string. Next, we are sorting the user entered string in both the ascending and Desc order or reverse order.
# Python Sort String Example
strExample = input("Please Enter Your Own String : ")
print("\n Original String = ", strExample)
newString = ''.join(sorted(strExample))
print("\n Sorted String in Ascending = ", newString)
descString = ''.join(sorted(strExample, reverse = True))
print("\n Sorted String in Descending = ", descString)OUTPUT
Python Dictionary Sorted Examples
The following examples show you, how to sort Dictionary items in ascending order and Descending order.
Python Dictionary Sorted Example 1
We can use the same sorted function on dictionary items to sort them in ascending order and descending order. Here, we are using the keys, values and items functions to extract keys, values, and items from the dictionary.
In this Python sorted example, first, we declared a dictionary. Next, we used sorted function on dictionary keys. This will sort the dictionary keys in ascending order.
Second, we used sorted function on dictionary values. It means, sorted function sort the dictionary values in ascending order.
Third, we used sorted function on items. This will sort the complete dictionary items based on dictionary key.
# Python Sort Dictionary Example
dictIntExample = {1: 10, 4: 70, 3: 30, 5: 50, 2: 200 }
print("\nOriginal Dictionary = ", dictIntExample)
ascKDictionary = sorted(dictIntExample.keys())
print("\nSorted Dictionary Keys in Ascending = ", ascKDictionary)
ascVDictionary = sorted(dictIntExample.values())
print("Sorted Dictionary Values in Ascending = ", ascVDictionary)
ascDictionary = sorted(dictIntExample.items())
print("Sorted Dictionary in Ascending= ", ascDictionary)OUTPUT
Python Dictionary Sorted reverse Example 2
The example is same the above example. However, we used the reverse = true. It means, Python sorted function will sort the dictionary keys, values, items in reverse order or descending order.
# Python Sort Dictionary Example
dictExample = {1: 10, 4: 70, 3: 30, 5: 50, 2: 200 }
print("\nOriginal Dictionary = ", dictExample)
descKDictionary = sorted(dictExample.keys(), reverse = True)
print("\nSorted Dictionary Keys in Descending = ", descKDictionary)
descVDictionary = sorted(dictExample.values(), reverse = True)
print("Sorted Dictionary Values in Descending = ", descVDictionary)
descDictionary = sorted(dictExample.items(), reverse = True)
print("Sorted Dictionary in Descending= ", descDictionary)OUTPUT
Dictionary Sorted Example 3
In this example, we are using this sorted function on string dictionary values.
# Python Sort Dictionary Example
dictStrExm = {3: 'cherry', 10: 'banana' , 5: 'orange', 9: 'kiwi'}
print("\nOriginal Dictionary = ",dictStrExm)
ascKDictionary = sorted(dictStrExm.keys())
print("\nSorted Dictionary Keys in Ascending = ", ascKDictionary)
ascVDictionary = sorted(dictStrExm.values())
print("Sorted Dictionary Values in Ascending = ", ascVDictionary)
ascDictionary = sorted(dictStrExm.items())
print("Dictionary in Asc = ", ascDictionary)OUTPUT
Dictionary Sorted reverse Example 4
This Dictionary sorted example is same as the above. However, we used the reverse argument, and assigned True. This will sort the dictionary in descending order.
# Python Sort Dictionary Example
dictStrExm = {3: 'cherry', 10: 'banana' , 5: 'orange', 9: 'kiwi'}
print("\nOriginal Dictionary = ",dictStrExm)
descKDictionary = sorted(dictStrExm.keys(), reverse = True)
print("\nSorted Dictionary Keys in Descending = ", descKDictionary)
descVDictionary = sorted(dictStrExm.values(), reverse = True)
print("Sorted Dictionary Values in Descending = ", descVDictionary)
descDictionary = sorted(dictStrExm.items(), reverse = True)
print("Dictionary in Desc= ", descDictionary)OUTPUT
