Difference between Sort() and Sorted() in Python

September 20, 2023

Sort() vs Sorted() in Python:

On this page, we will learn the key difference between Sort() vs Sorted() in Python. The main difference between the sort() function and the sorted() function is that the sort function will modify the list it is called on. The sorted() function will create a new sequence type containing a sorted version of the sequence it is given.

Difference between Sort() and Sorted() Function in Python

The sorted() function will not modify the sequence passed as a parameter. If you want to sort a list but still have the original version, then you would use the sorted() function. If maintaining the original order is unimportant, then you can call the sort() function on the sequence.

Syntax - Sort() : list_name . sort() -> (It will arrange the elements in ascending order)

Syntax - Sorted() : sorted( iterable, key, reverse ) -> ( Parameters: sorted takes three parameters from which two are optional )

Iterable :sequence (list, tuple, string) or collection (dictionary, set, frozen set) or any other iterator that needs to be sorted.

Key(optional) : A function that would serve as a key or a basis of sort comparison.

Reverse(optional) : If set true, then the iterable would be sorted in reverse (descending) order, by default it is set as false.

Note sort() can only sort the list, but sorted() can sort list, tuple, or any other sequence type.

Code 1 :

Run

# Python Program
# Sorted vs sort
li = [3, 1, 2, 4]

print("using Sorted function :", sorted(li))

print("list remains same :", li)

# sorting using sort method
li.sort()
print("List is changed and sorted :", li)

Output :

using Sorted function: [1, 2, 3, 4]
list remains same : [3, 1, 2, 4]
List is changed and sorted : [1, 2, 3, 4]

Code 2 :

Run

# Python Program
# Sorted vs sort

li = (3, 1, 2, 4)

print("using Sorted function :", sorted(li))

print("Tuple remains same :", li)

# sort using sort method
li.sort()
print("List is changed and sorted :", li)

Output :

using Sorted function: [1, 2, 3, 4]
Tuple remains same : (3, 1, 2, 4)

Traceback (most recent call last):
File “./prog.py”, line 11, in
AttributeError: ‘tuple’ object has no attribute ‘sort’

Please Note Sort function can not, sort tuple because the sort is defined for the list - sequence type only.

append() in Python

Enumerate() in Python

remove() in Python

Sort() in Python

Sorted() in Python

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Difference between Sort() and Sorted() in Python

Sort() vs Sorted() in Python:

Difference between Sort() and Sorted() Function in Python

Code 1 :

Output :

Code 2 :

Output :

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