Container Data Types: Part 2

Overview

This module covers two important tools Python gives us for dealing with collections of data: sorting and comprehensions/generator expressions. It also covers some important background information.

Links

Learning Objectives

After completing this module, you should understand

How Python compares numbers, booleans, and sequence data types (including strings)
How to use the sort() method of lists and the sorted() built-in function, and the differences between them
How to sort in descending order
How to modify sort criteria using a key function
How to write a key function
How to write a lambda expression
How to sort values using multiple criteria
How to use the min() and max() functions
How to write a list comprehension
How to filter data with a list comprehension
How to write a generator expression and how it differs from a list comprehension
How to write a set comprehension
How to write a dictionary comprehension

Readings

You may find it helpful to refer to the following resources:

van Rossum et al., Python Tutorial
Python documentation
- Andrew Dalke and Raymond Hettinger: Sorting HOW TO
- sort() method
- sorted() function
- FAQ: Why doesn’t list.sort() return the sorted list?
RealPython
- How to Use sorted() and sort() in Python Dan Bader, dbader.org
- Python’s Functions are First-Class