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In this tutorial, we will discuss how to use the sort()and sorted()functions to sort a list containing strings alphabetically using the quick sort algorithm.

sort()Both sorted()perform the same function, the main difference between them is that sort()the function sorts the original list, while sorted()the function creates a new list.

sort()Sort a list alphabetically using the method in Python

The method of list object sort()is used to sort the list. By default, it sorts the list in ascending order. For example, in sort()the method of list object, it sorts the list in ascending order.

my_list = ["Jack", "Sam", "Jay", "Mark", "Baron"]
my_list.sort()
print(my_list)

Output:

['Baron', 'Jack', 'Jay', 'Mark', 'Sam']

To sort the list in reverse order, we can use reversethe -p parameter and set it to True. By default, it is False. For example:

my_list = ["Jack", "Sam", "Jay", "Mark", "Baron"]
my_list.sort(reverse=True)
print(my_list)

Output:

['Sam', 'Mark', 'Jay', 'Jack', 'Baron']

Notice that the order of the sorted list has been reversed. We can also keyspecify the criteria for sorting using the parameter. In the following code, we will sort the list in ascending order based on the string length of each element.

my_list = ["Jack", "Sam", "Jay", "Mark", "Baron"]
my_list.sort(key=len)
print(my_list)

Output:

['Sam', 'Jay', 'Mark', 'Jack', 'Baron']

sorted()Sort a list alphabetically in Python using the function

sorted()The function also sorts the list in the required order, but it creates a new list and does not change the original list. If we want to sort in ascending alphabetical order, we just pass it to the function as shown below.

my_list = ["Jack", "Sam", "Jay", "Mark", "Baron"]
sorted_list = sorted(my_list)
print(sorted_list)

Output:

['Baron', 'Jack', 'Jay', 'Mark', 'Sam']

Similar to sort()the method, we can use reversethe parameter to sort in descending order. For example, we can use reversethe parameter to sort in descending order.

my_list = ["Jack", "Sam", "Jay", "Mark", "Baron"]
sorted_list = sorted(my_list, reverse=True)
print(sorted_list)

Output:

['Sam', 'Mark', 'Jay', 'Jack', 'Baron']

We can also use the key parameter to specify the sorting condition, just like using the sort() function. For example:

my_list = ["Jack", "Sam", "Jay", "Mark", "Baron"]
sorted_list = sorted(my_list, reverse=True, key=len)
print(sorted_list)

Output:

['Baron', 'Mark', 'Jack', 'Sam', 'Jay']

Sort a list alphabetically using the Quick Sort algorithm in Python

We can also sort the list using the quick sort algorithm. This approach may be unconventional, but it is worth noting that other sorting techniques such as merge sort, selection sort, insertion sort, heap sort, and bubble sort can also achieve this purpose. The following code shows a function that implements the quick method to sort a list in Python.

my_list = ["Jack", "Sam", "Jay", "Mark", "Baron"]


def quicksort(lst):
    if not lst:
        return []
    return (
        quicksort([x for x in lst[1:] if x < lst[0]])
        + [lst[0]]
        + quicksort([x for x in lst[1:] if x >= lst[0]])
    )


print(quicksort(my_list))

Output:

['Baron', 'Jack', 'Jay', 'Mark', 'Sam']