Sorting Python Dictionary With Lists as Values

Python offers various methods to sort a dictionary with Lists as Values. This is a common task when dealing with data where you need to order elements based on different criteria. In this article, we will sort a dictionary with lists as values in Python.

Sort a Dictionary with Lists as Values in Python

Below, are the ways to Sort a Dictionary Python With Lists As Values according to different sorting criteria.

• Using Sorted and Lambda Function
• Using Itemgetter from Operator Module
• Using List Comprehension and Sorted
• Using Dictionary Comprehension and Sorted

Sort a Dictionary with Lists Using Sorted and Lambda Function

In this approach, we use the sorted() function to sort the dictionary items based on a key function. The key function (lambda x: sum(x[1])) calculates the sum of the values in the list for each dictionary item. and after that, the resulting sorted items are converted back into a dictionary.

Python3

# Sample Dictionary
data = {'apple': [3, 7, 1], 'banana': [2, 5, 4], 'orange': [6, 9, 8]}

# Sorting based on the sum of the list values
sorted_data = dict(sorted(data.items(), key=lambda x: sum(x[1])))

# Displaying the sorted dictionary
print("Using Sorted and Lambda Function")
print(sorted_data)

Output

Using Sorted and Lambda Function
{'apple': [3, 7, 1], 'banana': [2, 5, 4], 'orange': [6, 9, 8]}

Sort a Dictionary with Lists Using Itemgetter from Operator Module

In this approach we use the itemgetter function from the operator module to specify the index (in this case, 1) of the element to use for sorting.

Python3

from operator import itemgetter

# Sample Dictionary
data = {'apple': [3, 7, 1], 'banana': [2, 5, 4], 'orange': [6, 9, 8]}

# Sorting based on the second element of the list
sorted_data = dict(sorted(data.items(), key=itemgetter(1)))

# Displaying the sorted dictionary
print("Using Itemgetter from Operator Module")
print(sorted_data)

Output

Using Itemgetter from Operator Module
{'banana': [2, 5, 4], 'apple': [3, 7, 1], 'orange': [6, 9, 8]}

Sort a Dictionary with Lists Using List Comprehension and Sorted

In this approach, we used a lambda function to specify the criteria for sorting. In this case, the maximum value in the list.

Python3

# Sample Dictionary
data = {'apple': [3, 7, 1], 'banana': [2, 5, 4], 'orange': [6, 9, 8]}

# Sorting based on the maximum value in the list
sorted_data = dict(sorted(data.items(), key=lambda x: max(x[1])))

# Displaying the sorted dictionary
print("Using List Comprehension and Sorted")
print(sorted_data)

Output

Using List Comprehension and Sorted
{'banana': [2, 5, 4], 'apple': [3, 7, 1], 'orange': [6, 9, 8]}

Sort a Dictionary with Lists Using Dictionary Comprehension and Sorted

In this approach, we used a dictionary comprehension to construct a new dictionary based on the sorted items.

Python3

# Sample Dictionary
data = {'apple': [3, 7, 1], 'banana': [2, 5, 4], 'orange': [6, 9, 8]}

# Sorting based on the minimum value in the list
sorted_data = {k: v for k, v in sorted(data.items(), key=lambda x: min(x[1]))}

# Displaying the sorted dictionary
print("Using Dictionary Comprehension and Sorted")
print(sorted_data)

Output

Using Dictionary Comprehension and Sorted
{'apple': [3, 7, 1], 'banana': [2, 5, 4], 'orange': [6, 9, 8]}