sorting a dictionary

[Alex Martelli]

Ian Bicking wrote:
   ...
> It would be better if there was an alternative to < (or cmp) that was
> potentially arbitrary but also stable and would not raise exceptions.
> Like maybe "order".
> 
> Then, would an entirely arbitrary function be appropriate?  Like:
> 
> def order(a, b):
>     return cmp(id(a), id(b))

I cannot see any practical use for this -- it seems to give
far too few "guarantees" one could base any use on.  E.g.:

>>> def order(a, b):
...    return cmp(id(a), id(b))
...
>>> x=11
>>> order(x,11)
0
>>> x=1111
>>> order(x,1111)
1
>>>

How would you use an "ordering" which can see "equality"
for very small integers but not for somewhat-larger ones,
etc, etc?

I think at the very least any ordering should cooperate
with == to the extent that x==y --> order(x,y)==0 (maybe
not the reverse, if the ordering is looking at fewer
aspects of x and y than the equality-comparison is --
but such an ordering wouldn't be suitable for general
use, I think).


Alex