How to sort dictionary in Python

Multiple data are stored in Python by using a tuple, list, and dictionary. When the data are stored in Python by key-value pair that works like an associative array of other programming language is called the dictionary. The value of the dictionary is mutable. The dictionary can be stored based on the value of the key or value or both key and value. The dictionary can be sorted by using a simple for loop, built-in functions, and module. Different ways to sort dictionary data have been explained in this tutorial.

Example-1: Using for Loop to sort a dictionary

Create a python file with the following script to sort a dictionary using nested for loops. Two types of sorting have been shown in the script. A dictionary of four items has been declared here. The student’s name has been stored in the key, and the obtained mark has been stored in the value. An empty dictionary object has been declared before sorting to store the data of the sorted dictionary. After printing the original dictionary values, the nested ‘for’ loops have used to sort the dictionary based on the values by comparing the values of the dictionary. Another nested ‘for’ loop has used to sort the dictionary based on the keys by comparing the dictionary’s keys.

Output:

The following output will appear after executing the above script. The original dictionary, the sorted dictionary based on the values, and the sorted dictionary based on the keys have shown in the output.

<img alt="" data-lazy- data-lazy-src="https://kirelos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/echo/1-14.png" data-lazy- height="572" src="data:image/svg xml,” width=”928″>

Example-2: Using sorted() function with lambda

Using sorted() function with lambda is another way to sort a dictionary. Create a python file with the following script to sort a dictionary using the sorted() function and the lambda. A dictionary of four items has been declared in the script. The sorting type can be set by using lambda. The index position has been set to 1 in the third argument of the sorted() function. That means the dictionary will be sorted based on the values.

Output:

The following output will appear after executing the above script. The original dictionary, the sorted dictionary based on the values have shown in the output.

<img alt="" data-lazy- data-lazy-src="https://kirelos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/echo/2-13.png" data-lazy- height="500" src="data:image/svg xml,” width=”927″>

Example-3: Using sorted() function with items()

Using sorted() function with items() function is another way to sort a dictionary, and it sorts the dictionary in ascending order based on keys by default. You can set the value of the reverse to True if you want the sorting in descending order. Create a python file with the following script to sort a dictionary using the sorted() function and the items(). The item() function is used to retrieve the keys or values from the dictionary. The sorted() function has used inside the dict() function to get a sorted dictionary as the output.

Output:

The following output will appear after executing the above script. The original dictionary, the sorted dictionary based on the keys as shown in the output.

<img alt="" data-lazy- data-lazy-src="https://kirelos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/echo/3-13.png" data-lazy- height="571" src="data:image/svg xml,” width=”927″>

Example-4: Using sorted() function with itemgetter() function

Using sorted() function with itemgetter() function is another way to sort a dictionary. It also sorts the dictionary in ascending order by default. The itemgetter() function is under the operator module. Create a python file with the following script to sort a dictionary using the sorted() function and the itemgetter() function. You can set the sorting type using the itemgetter() function like the lambda. According to the following script, the dictionary will be sorted based on the values because 1 has passed as the argument value of the itemgetter() function.

Output:

The following output will appear after executing the above script. The original dictionary, the sorted dictionary based on the values have shown in the output.

<img alt="" data-lazy- data-lazy-src="https://kirelos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/echo/4-13.png" data-lazy- height="543" src="data:image/svg xml,” width=”931″>

Conclusion:

A dictionary can be sorted with or without using the built-in function of Python. Four different ways to sort a dictionary have been explained in this tutorial by using various types of functions. The sorted() function is the main function to sort a dictionary. The order of the sorting can also be set by this function. Another function or index is used to sort the data based on the keys or values by mentioning the argument or the index value.