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Sorting lists

sorted() returns a new sorted list, leaving the original list unaffected. list.sort() sorts the list in-place, mutating the list indices, and returns None (like all in-place operations).

sorted() works on any iterable, not just lists. Strings, tuples, dictionaries (you'll get the keys), generators, etc., returning a list containing all elements, sorted.

  • Use list.sort() when you want to mutate the list, sorted() when you want a new sorted object back. Use sorted() when you want to sort something that is an iterable, not a list yet.
  • For lists, list.sort() is faster than sorted() because it doesn't have to create a copy. For any other iterable, you have no choice.
  • No, you cannot retrieve the original positions. Once you called list.sort() the original order is gone.

Useful links:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22442378/what-is-the-difference-between-sortedlist-vs-list-sort-python https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18761776/sort-list-of-dictionaries-by-multiple-keys-with-different-ordering https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16082954/python-how-to-sort-a-list-of-dictionaries-by-several-values