How to sort list elements in ascending order in Python

About Python List Sorting

In Python, list maintains the order of the elements as they are inserted or created.

So, list elements can be sorted in ascending or descending order.

Sorting Python list elements in ascending order


Using sort() Method:

1. Create a list of string with fruit names (fruit_list = ["Banana", "Apple", "Orange", "Cherry"]) where fruit_list is the list variable and ["Banana", "Apple", "Orange", "Cherry"] is the list with elements. The list elements are not in ascending order.

2. To sort the elements of the above list, you can use fruit_list.sort() where sort() method is used to sort the list elements in ascending order. If you now print the fruit_list, the list elements will be printed in ascending order.

In the second example, a list of integer numbers has been sorted in ascending order.

Please take a closer look at the following examples:

Example of sorting list elements using sort() method

Output of the above example
Sorted list of string elements: ['Apple', 'Banana', 'Cherry', 'Orange']
Sorted list of integer elements: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]


Using sorted() function:

1. Create a list of string with fruit names (fruit_list = ["Banana", "Apple", "Orange", "Cherry"]) where fruit_list is the list variable and ["Banana", "Apple", "Orange", "Cherry"] is the list with elements. The list elements are not in ascending order.

2. Use sorted_list = sorted(fruit_list) where sorted_list is a variable and sorted(fruit_list) is the sorted() function with list argument. If you now print the sorted_list, the list elements will be printed in ascending order.

In the second example, a list of integer numbers has been sorted in ascending order.

Please take a closer look at the following examples:

Example of sorting list elements using sorted() function

Output of the above example
Sorted list of string elements: ['Apple', 'Banana', 'Cherry', 'Orange']
Sorted list of integer elements: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Live Code Playground

In the following Python code editor, you can practice the above code by creating more lists and sorting them in ascending order. Click on the 'Execute Code' button to execute the code; the executed output will be displayed in the following Python Code Output frame. Practice until you become comfortable and proficient with your code.

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Python Code Output