python how to sort a list of list of int, str -

given list of list of int, str, need find way sort highest lowest, without using sorted. if have:

list = [[1, 'orange'], [3, 'banana'], [2, 'pear'], [1, 'apple']] 

i should have returned sorted number, , if numbers same, alphabetical order such as:

[[3, 'banana'], [2, 'pear'], [1, 'apple'], [1, 'orange']] 

is there way without using sorted function?

well, use sort() method:

lst = [[1, 'orange'], [3, 'banana'], [2, 'pear'], [1, 'apple']] lst.sort(key=lambda x: (-x[0], x[1]))  lst => [[3, 'banana'], [2, 'pear'], [1, 'apple'], [1, 'orange']] 

if that method isn't allowed either, write own sorting procedure corresponding comparator:

def compare(x, y):     return -cmp(x[0], y[0]) or cmp(x[1], y[1])  def quicksort(lst):     if not lst:         return []     return (quicksort([x x in lst[1:] if compare(x, lst[0]) <  0])             + [lst[0]] +              quicksort([x x in lst[1:] if compare(x, lst[0]) >= 0]))  quicksort([[1, 'orange'], [3, 'banana'], [2, 'pear'], [1, 'apple']]) => [[3, 'banana'], [2, 'pear'], [1, 'apple'], [1, 'orange']]