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Sorted copy

Write the codeEasy 2 stages

The mission report lists the crew alphabetically, but the sign-up order matters too: it decides who gets the first training slots. The same list has to be shown both ways.

Make a sorted copy for the report and leave the original alone, then make the sort cope with names that start with a small letter.

Print the names A–Z for the report, then the sign-up order, which must stay as it was:

Report: Kowalska, Lindqvist, Moreau, Okafor, Tanaka
Sign-up order: Tanaka, Okafor, Kowalska, Lindqvist, Moreau

sorted(signups) gives a new, sorted list and doesn't touch signups. ", ".join(...) turns each list into one line.

Sort a copy
Works for any sign-ups

Finish stage 1 to unlock this stage.

Two new crew members have names that start with a small letter: de Vries and van Dijk. The starter code puts them after Tanaka, because Python sorts all capitals before all small letters. Sort without caring about case:

Report: de Vries, Kowalska, Okafor, Tanaka, van Dijk
Sign-up order: Tanaka, de Vries, Okafor, Kowalska, van Dijk

Give sorted() a key: sorted(signups, key=str.lower) compares the lower-case version of each name but keeps the names as they are.

Sort without caring about case
Works for any names
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Hints

Sorting and Reversing Lists

sorting-reversing-lists.py
# Sorting: change the list, or build a new one

# The first five asteroids ever found, in discovery order
found = ["Ceres", "Pallas", "Juno", "Vesta", "Astraea"]
diameters = [939, 512, 247, 525, 119]  # km, same order
print("Discovery order:", found)

# sort() rearranges the list itself, smallest first
diameters.sort()
print("Smallest first:", diameters)

# reverse=True flips the direction of the sort
diameters.sort(reverse=True)
print("Largest first:", diameters)

# reverse() does not sort, it only flips what is already there
found.reverse()
print("Newest first:", found)

# sorted() builds a new list and leaves the original alone
alphabetical = sorted(found)
print("Alphabetical copy:", alphabetical)
print("Original still: ", found)

# A common bug: sort() returns None, so this would erase your list
# diameters = diameters.sort()
Open the full example
script.py
PythonLn 1, Col 1Spaces: 4
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Separate arguments with commas. They're passed on every Run as sys.argv[1:].