Sorting a dict in Python
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2016-04-01 18:24:53 - Graham Ellis* You cannot sort a dict
* If you sort a list of strings that are digits, you don't get a numeric sort by default
Solutions
* Sort a list of keys
* Specifiy a sort lambda (Python 2 comparator, Python 3 key function) for that list
Example code:
stuff = {'9': 36, '10': 26, '8': 25, '6': 2}
print "Sorting in NUMERIC order ----------------------- "
names = stuff.keys()
names.sort(lambda x,y: int(x)-int(y))
print "Output in NUMERIC order ----------------------- "
for name in names:
print name,stuff[name]Following code fills in the gaps for missing keys:
print "Filling the 'gaps' ---------------------------- "
for want in range(int(names[0]),int(names[-1])+1):
stuff[str(want)] = stuff.get(str(want),0)
print "Output in NUMERIC order ----------------------- "
for name in range(int(names[0]),int(names[-1])+1):
print name,stuff[str(name)]Running that:
WomanWithCat:apr16 grahamellis$ python od
Sorting in NUMERIC order -----------------------
Output in NUMERIC order -----------------------
6 2
8 25
9 36
10 26
Filling the 'gaps' ----------------------------
Output in NUMERIC order -----------------------
6 2
7 0
8 25
9 36
10 26
WomanWithCat:apr16 grahamellis$Complete source for Python 2 - [here] or for Python 3 [here].
As an alterative, take a look at the OrderedDict class in the collections module.