sort vs sorted in python

Topics

• python internals
• sorting algorithms

In Python, we have 2 ways to sort:

• sort() is a list method modifies the list in-place. Returns None
• sorted() is a built-in function. Creates a new sorted list from an iterable

# sort() example
numbers = [3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9, 2, 6]
numbers.sort()
print(numbers)  # Output: [1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9]
 
# sorted() example, using set
numbers = {"solid", "spotted", "cells"}
sorted_numbers = sorted(numbers)
print(numbers)         # Output: {'spotted', 'solid', 'cells'}
print(sorted_numbers)  # Output: ['cells', 'solid', 'spotted']

Use cases:

• sort(): Modify an existing list when a new copy isn’t needed. Faster for large lists
• sorted(): Need a sorted copy while preserving the original. Works with any iterable (tuples, strings, dictionaries)

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