ok, so how do I return a sorted list without doing it in place

[Aahz Maruch]

In article <mailman.982369099.4358.python-list at python.org>,
Timothy Grant  <tjg at exceptionalminds.com> wrote:
>On Fri, Feb 16, 2001 at 04:04:10PM -0800, Sean 'Shaleh' Perry wrote:
>> I know I can do:
>> 
>> list = dict.keys()
>> list.sort()
>> .....
>> 
>> but it is just plain annoying.
>
>I agree. This has bitten me on the butt more than once. It also seems
>somewhat unPythonic. Usually I expect what happens in Python, but that 
>sort process always strikes me as unexpected.

It's unexpected in some respects, but doing it this way causes the
fewest surprises overall.  At least you rarely get a downstream bug
this way.
-- 
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