[issue33275] glob.glob should explicitly note that results aren't sorted

[Ben FrantzDale]

New submission from Ben FrantzDale <ben at formlabs.com>:

The sortedness of glob.glob's output is platform-dependent. While the docs do not mention sorting, and so are strictly correct, if you are on a platform where its output is sorted, it's easy to believe that the output is always sorted.

I propose we a Note maybe next to "Note: Using the “**” pattern in large directory trees may consume an inordinate amount of time." that says "Note: While the output of glob.glob may be sorted on some architectures, ordering is not guaranteed. Use `sort(glob.glob(...))` if ordering is important."

This wrong assumption burned us when scripts inexplicably stopped working on OSX High Sierra.

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components: Library (Lib)
messages: 315254
nosy: Ben FrantzDale
priority: normal
severity: normal
status: open
title: glob.glob should explicitly note that results aren't sorted
type: enhancement
versions: Python 2.7, Python 3.4, Python 3.5, Python 3.6, Python 3.7, Python 3.8

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Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<https://bugs.python.org/issue33275>
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