How do you sort a dictionary by its values in Python?

Question

Aryan Kumar · Answer

There are a few ways to sort a dictionary by its values in Python. Here are two of the most common methods:

Using the sorted() function

The sorted() function can be used to sort any iterable object, including dictionaries. To sort a dictionary by its values, you would simply pass the dictionary to the sorted() function and specify the key argument. The key argument takes a function as its input, and the function will be used to determine the order of the elements in the iterable. In this case, you would pass a lambda function to the key argument. The lambda function would simply return the value of each key-value pair in the dictionary.

For example, the following code sorts a dictionary by its values:

Python

def sort_by_value(dict1):
    sorted_dict = sorted(dict1.items(), key=lambda x: x[1])
    return sorted_dict

dict1 = {'a': 10, 'b': 5, 'c': 20, 'd': 1}
sorted_dict = sort_by_value(dict1)
print(sorted_dict)

This code will print the following output:

Code snippet

[('c', 20), ('a', 10), ('d', 1), ('b', 5)]

Using the items() method

The items() method returns a list of key-value pairs from a dictionary. You can then use the sorted() function to sort the list of key-value pairs by their values.

For example, the following code sorts a dictionary by its values using the items() method:

Python

def sort_by_value(dict1):
    sorted_dict = sorted(dict1.items(), key=lambda x: x[1])
    return sorted_dict

dict1 = {'a': 10, 'b': 5, 'c': 20, 'd': 1}
sorted_dict = sort_by_value(dict1)
print(sorted_dict)

This code will print the same output as the previous example.

Which method you use to sort a dictionary by its values will depend on your specific needs. If you need to sort the dictionary in place, then you will need to use the sorted() function with the key argument. If you do not need to sort the dictionary in place, then you can use the items() method and the sorted() function.

forum

How do you sort a dictionary by its values in Python?

Can you answer this question?

1 Answers