Python - List sort() Method
The Python list sort() method is used to sort elements of the list in ascending or descending order. This method has an optional argument which can be used to pass a function to specify sorting criteria.
Syntax
list.sort(reverse = True | False, key = function)
Parameters
reverse |
Optional. takes either 'True' or 'False' values. Default value is False. True is used for descending order sorting and False is used for ascending order sorting. |
key |
Optional. A function to specify sorting criteria. |
Return Value
None.
Example: Reverse order Sorting
In the below example, sort() method is used to sort all elements of the list called MyList in descending order.
MyList = [1, 10, 5, 7, 3, 6, 5] MyList.sort(reverse = True) print(MyList)
The output of the above code will be:
[10, 7, 6, 5, 5, 3, 1]
Example: Reverse order Sorting with function criteria
In the below example, a function called name_length() is used with list sort() method which specifies length of the element as sorting criteria.
def name_length(x): return len(x) MyList = ['Marry', 'Sam', 'John', 'Jo'] MyList.sort(reverse = True, key = name_length) print(MyList)
The output of the above code will be:
['Marry', 'John', 'Sam', 'Jo']
❮ Python List Methods