Sorting By Custom Order

In Python, you can sort a dictionary by keys using the sorted function along with dictionary comprehensions. However, to sort the dictionary keys in a specific, non-alphabetical order, you'll need to specify that order explicitly. Below is an example demonstrating how to sort a dictionary based on a specific key order.

Code Example

def sort_dict_by_specific_order(d, key_order):
    """
    Sorts a dictionary based on a specific key order.

    Args:
        d (dict): The dictionary to be sorted.
        key_order (list): A list of keys specifying the order.

    Returns:
        dict: A new dictionary sorted by the specific key order.
    """
    # Create a new dictionary where keys are sorted based on the 'key_order' list
    sorted_dict = {k: d[k] for k in key_order if k in d}

    return sorted_dict

# Example usage
original_dict = {
    'apple': 1,
    'banana': 2,
    'cherry': 3,
    'date': 4
}

# Specify the key order
key_order = ['cherry', 'banana', 'apple', 'date']

# Sort the dictionary based on the specific key order
sorted_dict = sort_dict_by_specific_order(original_dict, key_order)

print("Sorted Dictionary:", sorted_dict)

Output

Sorted Dictionary: {'cherry': 3, 'banana': 2, 'apple': 1, 'date': 4}

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In this example, the function sort_dict_by_specific_order sorts the dictionary based on the key_order list. The sorted_dict dictionary will only contain keys that exist in the key_order list and the original dictionary (original_dict). The dictionary will be sorted in the order specified.

By doing this, we ensure best practices and efficient use of Python's native features like dictionary comprehensions.

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