Python | How to sort a list of strings

Given a list of strings, the task is to sort that list based on given requirement. There are multiple scenarios possible while sorting a list of string, like –

• Sorting in alphabetical/reverse order.
• Based on length of string character
• Sorting the integer values in list of string etc.

Let’s discuss various ways to perform this task. 

Example #1: Using sort() function. 

Python3

# Python program to sort a list of strings

lst = ['gfg', 'is', 'a', 'portal', 'for', 'geeks']

# Using sort() function
lst.sort()

print(lst)

Output:

['a', 'for', 'geeks', 'gfg', 'is', 'portal']

Example #2: Using sorted() function. 

Python3

# Python program to sort a list of strings

lst = ['gfg', 'is', 'a', 'portal', 'for', 'geeks']

# Using sorted() function
for ele in sorted(lst):
    print(ele)

Output:

a
for
geeks
gfg
is
portal

Example #3: Sort by length of strings 

Python3

# Python program to sort a list of strings

lst = ['Geeksforgeeks', 'is', 'a', 'portal', 'for', 'geeks']

# Using sort() function with key as len
lst.sort(key = len)

print(lst)

Output:

['a', 'is', 'for', 'geeks', 'portal', 'Geeksforgeeks']

Example #4: Sort string by integer value 

Python3

# Python program to sort a list of strings

lst = ['23', '33', '11', '7', '55']

# Using sort() function with key as int
lst.sort(key = int)

print(lst)

Output:

['7', '11', '23', '33', '55']

Example #5: Sort in descending order 

Python3

# Python program to sort a list of strings

lst = ['gfg', 'is', 'a', 'portal', 'for', 'geeks']

# Using sort() function
lst.sort(reverse = True)

print(lst)

Output:

['portal', 'is', 'gfg', 'geeks', 'for', 'a']