On Wed, Jul 26, 2017 at 2:40 PM, C W <tmrs...@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! > _______________________________________________ > Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org > To unsubscribe or change subscription options: > https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor >
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 http://cc-baseballstats.info/stats/birthdays _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
