Consider the following: >>> a = {1:2, 3:4, 2:5} Say that i want to get the keys of a, sorted. First thing I tried:
>>> b = a.keys().sort() >>> print b None Doesn't work. Probably because I am actually trying to sort the keys of the dictionary without copying them first. If that is the case, fine. Next thing I do: >>> b = a.keys() >>> b.sort() [1, 2, 3] Works fine, but I would really like it if I could somehow do it in one line. As the problem seems to be copying the object, i try the following: >>> import copy >>> b = copy.copy(a.keys()).sort() >>> print b None Hmmm, why doesn't it work? Also, >>> b = copy.deepcopy(a.keys()).sort() >>> print b None (not that I thought that deepcopy will work since shallow didn't, I understand the difference :) ) Obviously, I am missing something here. What am I thinking wrong? Why doesn't copying the object work? Thanks for all the help -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list