[Tutor] What's the difference between sort(aList) and aList.sorted()

[Joel Goldstick]

On Wed, Jul 26, 2017 at 2:40 PM, C W <tmrsg11 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Python experts,
>
> I suppose I have the following Python code:
>
> aList = [3, 5, 2, 4]
>
> sorted(aList)
> > [2, 3, 4, 5]
>
> aList.sort()
>
> aList
> > [2, 3, 4, 5]
>
> My understanding of each is:
> 1) function(variable) is manipulating a vector, I can do bList =
> sorted(aList)
> 2) object.method() is permanently changing it, I don't even need to assign
> it in #1.
>
> Why is there both? They do the same thing. Is if I unknowingly hit the
> keyboard with the aList.sort(), then the "damage" is permanent.
>
> Thank you!
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I haven't looked it up recently, but one sorts in place (object.method) i
think, and the other  (a function) returns a new sorted list

-- 
Joel Goldstick
http://joelgoldstick.com/blog
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