A report displays product labels alphabetically while preserving input order.
What You Need to Understand
sorted(iterable, key=None, reverse=False) returns a new list in sorted order, leaving the original iterable unchanged. The optional key function supplies one comparison value per element.
When to Use It
A report displays product labels alphabetically while preserving input order.
Step-by-Step Python Example
products = ["pear", "Apple", "banana"]
print(sorted(products))
print(sorted(products, key=str.casefold))
print(products)How the Example Works
Default text sorting is case-sensitive; key=str.casefold provides a more useful case-insensitive order for this simple example.
Example Output
['Apple', 'banana', 'pear']
['Apple', 'banana', 'pear']
['pear', 'Apple', 'banana']
[91, 84, 72]A Second Example
Compare this smaller variation with the main example, then experiment with your own values.
scores = [72, 91, 84]
print(sorted(scores, reverse=True))Important Behavior and Edge Cases
sorted() needs mutually comparable key values. Sorting text case-insensitively is not a complete locale-aware alphabetical collation.
Try It Yourself
Sort numerical scores descending and verify the source list remains unchanged.
Common Beginner Mistakes
sorted()needs mutually comparable key values. Sorting text case-insensitively is not a complete locale-aware alphabetical collation.- Overlooking how an iterable is consumed, how element positions are chosen, or whether a function creates a new list.
Key Takeaways
sorted(iterable, key=None, reverse=False)returns a new list in sorted order, leaving the original iterable unchanged.- Default text sorting is case-sensitive;
key=str.casefoldprovides a more useful case-insensitive order for this simple example. sorted()needs mutually comparable key values.