Sorting an array with strings and float

Question

a=[3.0,2.5,1.0,'1/3','4/5']

I would like to sort this array, i tried converting the strings to another array i.e,

a[3]=['1','3']

then converting them to float and then perform the division. the problem is, it becomes more complicated when i sort them using a.sort, I don't know how to bring them back to their string form I need to know how to this without importing the fraction module

Help please.

falsetru · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-23 12:11:07Z

3

You don't need to convert it back. Use key parameter (a function) of sorted, list.sort. The return value of the key function will be used for comparison.

>>> def key(n):
...     if isinstance(n, str):
...         a, b = map(float, n.split('/'))
...         n = a / b
...     return n
... 
>>> a = [3.0,2.5,1.0,'1/3','4/5']
>>> sorted(a, key=key)
['1/3', '4/5', 1.0, 2.5, 3.0]

edited Sep 23, 2014 at 12:11

answered Sep 23, 2014 at 11:22

falsetru

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