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How to Sort Strings in Python? (Program With Examples)

Sorting strings in Python is a common operation that allows you to organize and manipulate textual data effectively. Whether you need to sort words in alphabetical order, sort strings based on length, or order sentences based on certain criteria, having the skill to sort strings is a valuable skill for programmers.

If you know how to sort a string in Python, then you can cater to various purposes and scenarios:

  • Data Analysis: When working with textual data, sorting strings in Python enables programmers to identify patterns, find outliers, or perform statistical analyses. Sorting can reveal the most frequent or unique strings, providing valuable insights into the data.

  • Search and Retrieval: Sorting strings alphabetically or based on specific criteria is crucial in search engines and information retrieval systems. By organizing strings in a sorted order, it becomes easier to locate specific strings or rank search results more efficiently.

  • Natural Language Processing: In natural language processing tasks, such as text classification or sentiment analysis, sorting strings can help preprocess and normalize the data. Sorting words within a sentence or sorting sentences based on certain attributes can facilitate subsequent analyses and modeling.

  • User Interface and Presentation: Python sorting strings is often useful in creating user-friendly interfaces or generating formatted reports. For instance, sorting a list of names in alphabetical order makes it easier for users to navigate and find desired information.

In this tutorial, we will learn how to sort strings in Python, with code examples, output, as well as explanations. Further, you can practice the programs using the online Python compiler.

Python Program to Sort Strings

Code

def sort_string(string):
    sorted_string = ''.join(sorted(string))
    return sorted_string

# Example usage
input_string = 'tutorialsfreak'
sorted_string = sort_string(input_string)
print(sorted_string)

Output

aaefiklorrsttu

Explanation

In this program, we define a function called sort_string that takes a string as input. Inside the function, we use the sorted function to sort the characters of the string and convert them back into a string using join. 

The resulting sorted string is stored in a new variable called sorted_string. Finally, we return the sorted string.To test the program, we provide an example input string tutorialsfreak, call the sort_string function with this string, and print the sorted result to the console.

Python Course

Sort String in Python Without sort function

If you want to sort a string in Python without using the built-in function, you can convert the string into a list of characters, sort the list using a sorting algorithm like bubble sort, and then join the sorted characters back into a string. Here's an example program:

Code

def sort_string(string):
    characters = list(string)
    n = len(characters)
    for i in range(n - 1):
        for j in range(n - i - 1):
            if characters[j] > characters[j + 1]:
                characters[j], characters[j + 1] = characters[j + 1], characters[j]
    sorted_string = ''.join(characters)
    return sorted_string

# Example usage
input_string = 'tutorialsfreak'
sorted_string = sort_string(input_string)
print(sorted_string)

Output

aaefiklorrsttu

Explanation

In this program, we define the sort_string function that takes a string as input. First, we convert the string into a list of characters using the list function and store it in the characters variable.

Next, we use a nested loop to compare adjacent characters and swap them if they are out of order. The outer loop runs n - 1 times, where n is the length of the string. The inner loop runs n - i - 1 times, as in each iteration of the outer loop, the largest character gets sorted and moves to the end of the list.

Inside the inner loop, we compare the current character with the next character using the > operator. If the current character is greater than the next character, we swap them using tuple unpacking: characters[j], characters[j + 1] = characters[j + 1], characters[j].

After sorting all the characters, we join them back into a string using the join method and store the sorted string in the sorted_string variable. Finally, we return the sorted string.