Why Doesn't Python's `list.sort()` Return the Sorted List?

Understanding Return Values of List Sorting

In Python, utilizing the "sort()" function on lists does not directly return the sorted list. Instead, it modifies the original list in-place without producing an explicit return value.

This deviation from expectation can lead to confusion, as the caller might anticipate the function to return the sorted list. To clarify, "list.sort()" doesn't create a new sorted list but rather reorganizes the elements within the existing list.

To obtain the desired sorted list as the output, the code should explicitly return the sorted list. The corrected version of the provided code snippet should be:

def findUniqueWords(theList):
    newList = []
    words = []

    # Read a line at a time
    for item in theList:

        # Remove any punctuation from the line
        cleaned = cleanUp(item)

        # Split the line into separate words
        words = cleaned.split()

        # Evaluate each word
        for word in words:

            # Count each unique word
            if word not in newList:
                newList.append(word)

    newList.sort()
    return newList

By adding "newList.sort()" outside the loop, the list is sorted in place. Then, returning "newList" ensures that the sorted list is available to the caller.

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