Sorting complex list of strings in python

Question

I feel it would be better to illustrate my problem, so here it is:

I have this list:

['1.2.3', '1.2.4', '10.3', '1.3', '12', '14.12.123', '4', '6']

and would like it sorted like so:

['1.2.3', '1.2.4', '1.3', '4', '6', '10.3', '12', '14.12.123']

As you can see I would like to sort initially by the first digit then the second and so on. Also there could be an infinite amount of digits in the list items(e.g. '1.2.3.4.5.6' and so on)

I have tried the usual sorted method to no avail, and cannot find a similar situation on the internet to help me out.

Thanks for your help.

Have you tried anything? Have you seen all the `key` parameter to `sorted`? — Jonathon Reinhart, Aug 18 '16 at 10:20

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 18 '16 at 10:21

2

This should do it:

sorted(l, key=lambda k: [int(num) for num in k.split('.')])

answered Aug 18 '16 at 10:21

Smooth Fire

183
5

2

@NehalJWani: nope. – Karoly Horvath Aug 18 '16 at 10:28
Why not? Do you have any better idea? – Smooth Fire Aug 18 '16 at 11:46

Sorting complex list of strings in python

1 Answers1