In other words, we want to use the minimum of hardware resources to complete the task. The idea behind an in-place algorithm is space efficiency. According to Wikipedia:Īn in-place algorithm transforms input data without the need for auxiliary structures. without any additional space requirement. It is important to note that the sort() function sorts in place, i.e. If you want to sort the items in descending (Z–A) order, you can do it by setting the reverse parameter in sort() as True or False.Īnd here we go! mylist is now sorted in descending order. However, note that the sort() method will directly modify the initial list of items and that it will not be possible to undo any changes. By default, sort() will place the items in ascending (A–Z) order. Now that we understand what sorting is, we can get started with the code! Sort a List Alphabetically in Python with sort()įirst, let’s sort a list alphabetically in Python with the sort() method. ( Note: This means “Zebra” will be listed before “apple” because “Zebra” starts with a capital letter.) However, words that start with uppercase letters come before words that start with lowercase letters. Strings are sorted in alphabetical order based on their first letter (A-Z). In Python, sorting a list alphabetically is as easy as passing a list of strings to the sorted() method. We want to sort this list and store it as a new variable called sorted_list. > mylist = Ībove, the list mylist holds the strings “world”, “”, “pineapple”, and “bicycle” in no particular order. Finally, I encourage you to enroll in our interactive Python Data Structure course so you can practice these new skills.īack to Python sorting. You might also want to refer to Python Terms Beginners Should Know Part 1 and Part 2 for more information. Note: If you do not know what a list is and why it is a very important Python data structure, check out our article Python Lists, Tuples, and Sets. So, how exactly can you sort a list in alphabetical order in Python? Let’s look at a quick example. Storing sorted data makes it easier for algorithms to search it later. For example, government organizations, commercial enterprises, and financial institutions all organize their data by sorting it. Sorting algorithms have a wide range of applications. This article will explore how to use sort() and sorted() to sort alphabetically in Python. Luckily, Python comes with built-in sorting functions. Writing a good sorting function on your own is not easy. Even though the idea of sorting algorithms looks simple at first, it’s not research into it started 70 years ago. In a nutshell, sorting can be defined as arranging items in an ordered sequence. They help reduce the complexity of a problem and can even optimize other algorithms.īecause of its complexity, sorting is one of the most important problems in computer science. What if you have a list of strings (text items) and you need to sort them alphabetically? In this article, we’ll show you how to sort a list in Python.Ī sorting algorithm puts elements of a list into a particular order.
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