Python sort dictionary items by value then by key

Question

I have the following dictionary:

{1: (8, 3), 0: (8, 0), 2: (2, 3), 3: (2, 0)}

I would like to sort it by the tuple key and then by the key of the dictionary so the above will be:

 [{1: (2, 3), 3: (2, 0),0: (8, 3), 1: (8, 0)}]

I wrote the following:

result_list = sorted(codebook.items(), key= lambda item: item[1][0])

This sort by the tuple key but not afterwards by the dictionary key.

How can I do it?

Your output would be a list, not a dictionary; dictionaries are unordered. — Martijn Pieters, Jan 08 '14 at 18:17
Its a little unclear what you're trying, but if you're trying to sort the dictionary, stop, it cannot be done. Dictionaries in python are not sorted (and cannot be sorted) — wnnmaw, Jan 08 '14 at 18:17
Also, your sample dictionary has two keys that are the same. This can't possibly be correct. — , Jan 08 '14 at 18:18
possible duplicate of [Sorting a Python list by two criteria](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5212870/sorting-a-python-list-by-two-criteria) — Ashwini Chaudhary, Jan 08 '14 at 18:18
I fixed my question there is already a correct answer to accept i — Dejell, Jan 08 '14 at 18:22

Joran Beasley · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-08T19:20:14.973

5

sorted(codebook.items(), key= lambda item: (item[1][0],item[0]))

this will sort first by the first item in the tuple then by the dictionary key

just to clarify a few things for OP

Dictionaries are not sortable, so you cannot ever have a "sorted" dictionary
- (there is a OrderedDictionary, but its essentially the same as a NamedTuple, both of these containers do have an order)
This will return a list of tuples not a dictionary. the return will look like

[(dictionary_key,(tuple,values)),(dictionary_key,(tuple,values),...]

edited Jan 08 '14 at 19:20

answered Jan 08 '14 at 18:17

Joran Beasley

I'm also curious about the -1. +1 to make up for it. – That1Guy Jan 08 '14 at 18:23
1

I'm not the -1, but this answer doesn't produce the OP's desired result, a `list` containing one sorted `dict`. In fact, no answer possibly can. – Robᵩ Jan 08 '14 at 18:24
It's exactly what I wanted - to sort the dictionary – Dejell Jan 08 '14 at 18:26
1

meh thats based on the authors incorrect wording of his desired solution ... I think this answers what he actually was asking – Joran Beasley Jan 08 '14 at 18:26
1

@Dejel , one cannot sort a dictionary, and that isn't what this answer does. I'm glad you found an answer the works for you, but I'm concerned that you are still confused about what this does. – Robᵩ Jan 08 '14 at 18:30
but it does sort the dictionary into a list! – Dejell Jan 08 '14 at 18:32
SortedDictionary = collections.OrderedDict – wim Jan 08 '14 at 18:42

1 Answers1