sorted() function in Python returns a new sorted list from the elements of any iterable, such as a list, tuple, set, or string. It does not modify the original iterable, unlike the sort() method for lists.

Let's start with a basic example of sorting a list of numbers in ascending order using the sorted() function.

a = [4, 1, 3, 2]
b = sorted(a)
print(b)

[1, 2, 3, 4]

Syntax

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

Parameters:

• iterable: The sequence to be sorted (list, tuple, set, string, etc.)
• key (Optional): A function to customize the sort order. Default is None.
• reverse (Optional): If True, sorts in descending order. Default is False.

Return Type: Returns a new sorted list containing all elements from the iterable according to the given criteria.

Sorting in Descending Order

To sort an iterable in descending order, set the reverse argument to True.

a = [5, 2, 9, 1, 5, 6]
res = sorted(a, reverse=True)
print(res)

[9, 6, 5, 5, 2, 1]

Sorting a String

You can sort the characters of a string and return a list.

s = "python"
res = sorted(s)
print(res)  

['h', 'n', 'o', 'p', 't', 'y']

Explanation: Each character of the string is treated as an element and sorted in ascending (alphabetical) order.

Sorting a Tuple

You can sort the elements of a tuple using sorted(), which returns a list.

t = (3, 1, 4, 2)
res = sorted(t)
print(res) 

[1, 2, 3, 4]

Explanation: Tuples are immutable, so sorted() returns a new sorted list, leaving the original tuple unchanged.

Sorting using key Parameter

The key parameter is an optional argument that allows us to customize the sort order.

1. Sorting Strings by Length: You can sort a list of strings by their length using the key=len parameter in sorted().

a = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "date"]
res = sorted(a, key=len)
print(res)

['date', 'apple', 'banana', 'cherry']

Explanation: The key parameter is set to len, which sorts the words by their length in ascending order.

2. Sorting a List of Dictionaries: You can sort a list of dictionaries based on a specific key using sorted() with a lambda function.

a = [
    {"name": "Harry", "score": 85},
    {"name": "Leo", "score": 91},
    {"name": "Eve", "score": 78}
]

b = sorted(a, key=lambda x: x['score'])
print(b)

[{'name': 'Eve', 'score': 78}, {'name': 'Harry', 'score': 85}, {'name': 'Leo', 'score': 91}]

Explanation: key=lambda x: x['score'] specifies that the sorting should be done using the 'score' value from each dictionary

Related Articles:

• Python Sort() Method
• Sort Python Dictionaries By Key or Value
• How to Sort a Set of Values?
• How to Sort a Dictionary by Value?
• Sorting Objects of User Defined Class