and Sorting Comparators
Dan Fleck
Coming up: Sorting a list
Sorting a list
! Sorting a list seems simple: myList = [1, 4, 3, 5] myList.sort() print myList >>> [1, 3, 4, 5] Backwards? Not so hard really
Okay, how about backwards then!
! A little harder, but we can do it myList = [1, 4, 3, 5] myList.sort() myList.reverse() print myList >>> [5, 4, 3, 1] What about a heterogeneous list?
Okay, heterogeneous list?
! First, what is a heterogeneous list? ! heterogeneous - consisting of dissimilar or diverse ingredients or constituents ! homogeneous - of the same or a similar kind or nature mw.com
Okay, heterogeneous list?
! First, what is a heterogeneous list? In Python then: ! heterogeneous list has elements of multiple data types (int, float, String, list) ! homogeneous list all elements are the same type
So, lets sort one
myList = [1, B, 4, A, [1, 2, 3], 3, 5] myList.sort() print myList >>> [1, 3, 4, 5, [1, 2, 3], 'A', 'B'] Uhhh why?
The Python people had a problem how does one compare an int to a list? Ideas?
Sorting heterogeneous types
They didnt have a good idea either, but in a computer you MUST provide an answer, even if it isnt a good one! Python sorts alphabetically based on the name of the type.
ALL ints < ALL lists < ALL strings < ALL tuples
Note: Python does sort ints, floats, doubles together so that will work, but all of them will be less than lists, strings, tuples)
Sorting classes
What about classes? Oh still alphabetic:
ALL classes < ALL ints < ALL lists < ALL strings < ALL tuples What about just a homogeneous list of classes?
Sorting classes
What about just a homogeneous list of classes?
class MyClass: def __init__(self, x): self.x = x c1 = MyClass(1) c2 = MyClass(2) myList = [c2, c1] myList.sort() print myList
[<__main__.MyClass instance at 0x70148>, <__main__.MyClass instance at 0x70120>] [<__main__.MyClass instance at 0x70120>, <__main__.MyClass instance at 0x70148>]
Making classes pretty
! classes when you print a class, the default action is to print the memory location of the class. Not very helpful. ! can You override that behavior by providing a special method to be called:
!def __repr__(self):
Returns a string representing this class
Making classes pretty
class MyClass: def __init__(self, x): self.x = x def __repr__(self): Returns a string representing this class return MyClass:+str(self.x)
Back to sorting
c1 = MyClass(1) c2 = MyClass(2) myList = [c2, c1] myList.sort() print myList >>> [MyClass:2, MyClass:1] >>> [MyClass:1, MyClass:2] It works! Or does it? How did it do the sorting? Can you think of how it KNOWS what to sort? Neither could the Python authors!
Back to sorting
c2 = MyClass(2) c1 = MyClass(1) myList = [c2, c1] myList.sort() print myList >>> [MyClass:2, MyClass:1] >>> [MyClass:2, MyClass:1] Python doesnt know how to sort your class unless *YOU* tell it how! Change the order
__cmp__ method
! Another special method in Python tells sort routines *HOW* do I compare two of these things?
! def __cmp__(self, other): """Return -1 if self < otherInstance Return 0 if they are equal Return +1 if self > otherInstance """ if self.x == other.x: return 0 elif self.x < other.x: return -1 else: return 1
What if I want descending order?
__cmp__ method
! Frequently you want to order ...