How Can Python's `natsort` Library Perform Natural String Sorting?

Performing Natural Sorting with Strings in Python

In Python, performing a natural alphabetical sort on a list of strings can be achieved using third-party libraries. One such library is natsort, which provides a variety of methods for natural sorting.

For instance, to sort a list of strings in a natural order, one can use natsorted():

from natsort import natsorted

list = ['Elm11', 'Elm12', 'Elm2', 'elm0', 'elm1', 'elm10', 'elm13', 'elm9']
natsorted(list, key=lambda y: y.lower())  # or natsorted(list, alg=ns.IGNORECASE)
# Output: ['elm0', 'elm1', 'Elm2', 'elm9', 'elm10', 'Elm11', 'Elm12', 'elm13']

Alternatively, a sorting key can be generated using natsort_keygen():

from natsort import natsort_keygen

natsort_key = natsort_keygen(key=lambda y: y.lower())  # or natsort_keygen(alg=ns.IGNORECASE)
list.sort(key=natsort_key)
# Output: ['elm0', 'elm1', 'Elm2', 'elm9', 'elm10', 'Elm11', 'Elm12', 'elm13']

The natsort library utilizes a generalized algorithm to handle various types of input, including strings with special characters and numbers. Its documentation provides detailed explanations and examples of its sorting capabilities.

In addition, natsort now includes os_sorted to sort paths in a manner consistent with the operating system's file system browser.

from natsort import os_sorted

os_sorted(list_of_paths)  # Sorts paths like the file system browser

The above is the detailed content of How Can Python's `natsort` Library Perform Natural String Sorting?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!