How to Achieve Natural Ordering in Python: A PHP's natsort Equivalent?

Python Equivalent of PHP's Natsort Function: Achieving Natural Ordering

In PHP, the natsort function provides a natural sorting algorithm, allowing strings to be organized in a human-readable manner. Python offers similar capabilities through the implementation of custom sorting keys.

Identifying a Python Equivalent

The most suitable Python equivalent for PHP's natsort function is the natural_key function. This function splits a string into its numerical and non-numerical parts and sorts it based on the values of those parts.

Custom Sorting Key Implementation

<code class="python">import re

def natural_key(string_):
    return [int(s) if s.isdigit() else s for s in re.split(r'(\d+)', string_)]

# Example list
L = ['image1.jpg', 'image15.jpg', 'image12.jpg', 'image3.jpg']

# Sort using custom key
sorted(L, key=natural_key)</code>

Result:

['image1.jpg', 'image3.jpg', 'image12.jpg', 'image15.jpg']

This output demonstrates the natural ordering, correctly sorting the strings despite their mixed numerical and non-numerical content.

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