Python sorted()

The sorted() function sorts the elements of a given iterable in a specific order (either ascending or descending) and returns the sorted iterable as a list.

The syntax of the sorted() function is:

sorted(iterable, key=None, reverse=False)

Parameters for the sorted() function

sorted() can take a maximum of three parameters:

• iterable - A sequence (string, tuple, list) or collection (set, dictionary, frozen set) or any other iterator.
• reverse (Optional) - If True, the sorted list is reversed (or sorted in descending order). Defaults to False if not provided.
• key (Optional) - A function that serves as a key for the sort comparison. Defaults to None.

Example 1: Sort string, list, and tuple

# vowels list
py_list = ['e', 'a', 'u', 'o', 'i']
print(sorted(py_list))

# string
py_string = 'Python'
print(sorted(py_string))

# vowels tuple
py_tuple = ('e', 'a', 'u', 'o', 'i')
print(sorted(py_tuple))

Output

['a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u']
['P', 'h', 'n', 'o', 't', 'y']
['a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u']

Notice that in all cases that a sorted list is returned.

Note: A list also has the sort() method which performs the same way as sorted(). The only difference is that the sort() method doesn't return any value and changes the original list.

Example 2: Sort in descending order

The sorted() function accepts a reverse parameter as an optional argument.

Setting reverse = True sorts the iterable in the descending order.

# set
py_set = {'e', 'a', 'u', 'o', 'i'}
print(sorted(py_set, reverse=True))

# dictionary
py_dict = {'e': 1, 'a': 2, 'u': 3, 'o': 4, 'i': 5}
print(sorted(py_dict, reverse=True))

# frozen set
frozen_set = frozenset(('e', 'a', 'u', 'o', 'i'))
print(sorted(frozen_set, reverse=True))

Output

['u', 'o', 'i', 'e', 'a']
['u', 'o', 'i', 'e', 'a']
['u', 'o', 'i', 'e', 'a']

key Parameter in Python sorted() function

If you want your own implementation for sorting, sorted() also accepts a key function as an optional parameter.

Based on the returned value of the key function, you can sort the given iterable.

sorted(iterable, key=len)

Here, len() is Python's in-built function to count the length of an object.

The list is sorted based on the length of the element, from the lowest count to highest.

Example 3: Sort the list using sorted() having a key function

# take the second element for sort
def take_second(elem):
    return elem[1]


# random list
random = [(2, 2), (3, 4), (4, 1), (1, 3)]

# sort list with key
sorted_list = sorted(random, key=take_second)

# print list
print('Sorted list:', sorted_list)

Output

Sorted list: [(4, 1), (2, 2), (1, 3), (3, 4)]

Example 4: Sorting with multiple keys

Let us suppose that we have the following list:

# Nested list of student's info in a Science Olympiad
# List elements: (Student's Name, Marks out of 100, Age)

participant_list = [
    ('Alison', 50, 18),
    ('Terence', 75, 12),
    ('David', 75, 20),
    ('Jimmy', 90, 22),
    ('John', 45, 12)
]

We want to sort the list in such a way that the student with the highest marks is in the beginning. In case the students have equal marks, they must be sorted so that the younger participant comes first.

We can achieve this type of sorting with multiple keys by returning tuple instead of a number.

Two tuples can be compared by comparing their elements starting from first. If there is a tie (elements are equal), the second element is compared, and so on.

>>> (1,3) > (1, 4)
False
>>> (1, 4) < (2,2)
True
>>> (1, 4, 1) < (2, 1)
True

Let's use this logic to build our sorting logic.

# Nested list of student's info in a Science Olympiad
# List elements: (Student's Name, Marks out of 100 , Age)
participant_list = [
    ('Alison', 50, 18),
    ('Terence', 75, 12),
    ('David', 75, 20),
    ('Jimmy', 90, 22),
    ('John', 45, 12)
]


def sorter(item):
    # Since highest marks first, least error = most marks
    error = 100 - item[1]
    age = item[2]
    return (error, age)


sorted_list = sorted(participant_list, key=sorter)
print(sorted_list)

Output

[('Jimmy', 90, 22), ('Terence', 75, 12), ('David', 75, 20), ('Alison', 50, 18), ('John', 45, 12)]

Since the sorting logic function is small and fits in one line, lambda function is used inside key rather than passing a separate function name.

The above program can be written using the lambda function in the following way:

# Nested list of student's info in a Science Olympiad
# List elements: (Student's Name, Marks out of 100 , Age)
participant_list = [
    ('Alison', 50, 18),
    ('Terence', 75, 12),
    ('David', 75, 20),
    ('Jimmy', 90, 22),
    ('John', 45, 12)
]

sorted_list = sorted(participant_list, key=lambda item: (100-item[1], item[2]))
print(sorted_list)

Output

[('Jimmy', 90, 22), ('Terence', 75, 12), ('David', 75, 20), ('Alison', 50, 18), ('John', 45, 12)]

To learn more about lambda functions, visit Python Lambda Functions.