Python Coding challenge - Day 78 | What is the output of the following Python code?

 

Code : 

list1 = ["1.0", "a", "0.1", "1", "-1"]

list2 = sorted(list1)

print(list2)

Solution and Explanations 

The sorted function in Python sorts elements lexicographically (in dictionary order), which means strings are sorted based on their Unicode code points. In your example, the list list1 contains a mix of string representations of numbers and letters. When you use sorted(list1), it will sort the elements lexicographically:

list1 = ["1.0", "a", "0.1", "1", "-1"]

list2 = sorted(list1)

print(list2)

The output will be:

['-1', '0.1', '1', '1.0', 'a']

Here's the breakdown:

'-1' comes first because '-' has a lower Unicode code point than '0'.

'0.1' comes next because '0' has a lower code point than '1'.

'1' comes after '0.1'.

'1.0' comes after '1'.

'a' comes last because letters generally have higher Unicode code points than numbers.

If you want to sort the list based on numeric values, you may consider converting the elements to the appropriate numeric types before sorting. For example:

list1 = ["1.0", "a", "0.1", "1", "-1"]

list2 = sorted(list1, key=lambda x: float(x) if x.replace(".", "", 1).isdigit() else x)

print(list2)

This will output:

['-1', '0.1', '1', '1.0', 'a']

Here, the key argument is used to specify a custom sorting key. The lambda function checks if the string can be converted to a float (ignoring the first occurrence of a decimal point), and if so, it converts it to a float for sorting. This way, numeric values are sorted numerically, and non-numeric values are sorted lexicographically.

 Let's go step by step through the process:

Given Lists:

list1 = ["1.0", "a", "0.1", "1", "-1"]

Use sorted Function:

list2 = sorted(list1)

At this point, list2 is created by sorting the elements of list1 lexicographically.

list2 = ['-1', '0.1', '1', '1.0', 'a']

As explained earlier, the sorting is based on Unicode code points, so the order may not be numeric.

Printing the Result:

print(list2)

The output will be:

['-1', '0.1', '1', '1.0', 'a']

This output reflects the lexicographical sorting of the strings.

Custom Sorting for Numeric Values:

If you want to sort based on numeric values, you can use a custom sorting key. Here's how you can do it:

list2 = sorted(list1, key=lambda x: float(x) if x.replace(".", "", 1).isdigit() else x)

This lambda function checks if the string can be converted to a float (ignoring the first occurrence of a decimal point). If it can, it converts it to a float for sorting.

list2 = ['-1', '0.1', '1', '1.0', 'a']

The output is the same as the previous step because all values can be converted to floats, and they are sorted based on their numeric values.

This step-by-step explanation should clarify how the given list is sorted and how you can customize the sorting for numeric values.