If True, then the source DataFrame will be directly modified, and no new DataFrame will be created.
If False, then a new DataFrame will be returned, and the source DataFrame will be kept intact.

By default, inplace=False.

5. kind | string | optional

The sorting algorithm to use:

Kind	Speed	Worst case	Memory	Stable
quicksort	1 (fast)	`O(n^2)`	0	no
mergesort	2	`O(nlogn)`	~n/2	yes
heapsort	3 (slow)	`O(nlogn)`	0	no

By default, kind="quicksort".

NOTE

Sorting algorithms that are "stable" retain the relative ordering of duplicate values. For instance, suppose you are sorting the array [(2,3), (2,1), (4,5)] by the first element of each tuple. We have a duplicate value of 2 here, and stable sorting algorithms ensure that (2,3) will always come before (2,1) since that is how they are ordered originally. Unstable searches provide no guarantee that such ordering is retained.

6. na_positionlink | string | optional

Where to place NaN values:

Value	Description
`"first"`	Place `NaN`s at the beginning.
`"last"`	Place `NaN`s at the end.

By default, na_position="last".

7. sort_remaining | boolean | optional

If True, then we further sort by the other inner-levels in order. This is only relevant for multi-level indexes. By default, sort_remaining=True.

8. ignore_indexlink | boolean | optional

If True, then the index of the sorted DataFrame will be 0,1,...,n-1, where n is the number of rows of the DataFrame.
If False, then the index names will be kept as is.

By default, ignore_index=False.

Return Value

A DataFrame sorted by either column or index labels.

Examples

Consider the following DataFrame:


        
        
            
                
                
                    df = pd.DataFrame({"B":[1,2,3],"C":[4,5,6],"A":[7,8,9]}, index=[2,0,1])
df
                
            
               B  C  A
2  1  4  7
0  2  5  8
1  3  6  9

Sorting by index labels

To sort by index labels:


        
        
            
                
                
                    df.sort_index()
                
            
               B  C  A
0  2  5  8
1  3  6  9
2  1  4  7

Sorting by column labels

To sort by column labels, set axis=1, like so:


        
        
            
                
                
                    df.sort_index(axis=1)
                
            
               A  B  C
2  7  1  4
0  8  2  5
1  9  3  6

Here's our df again for your reference:

Sorting in descending order

By default, the labels are sorted in ascending order. To sort in descending order instead, set ascending=False:


        
        
            
                
                
                    df.sort_index(ascending=False)
                
            
               B  C  A
2  1  4  7
1  3  6  9
0  2  5  8

Specifying na_position

Consider the following DataFrame:


        
        
            
                
                
                    df = pd.DataFrame({"A":[1,2,3]}, index=[2,1,np.NaN])
df
                
            
                 A
2.0  1
1.0  2
NaN  3

By default, na_position="last", which means that rows (axis=0) where index is NaN are placed at the end:


        
        
            
                
                
                    df.sort_index()   # na_position="last"
                
            
                 A
1.0  2
2.0  1
NaN  3

To place rows where index is NaN in the beginning instead:


        
        
            
                
                
                    df.sort_index(na_position="first") 
                
            
                 A
NaN  3
1.0  2
2.0  1

Specifying ignore_index

Consider the following DataFrame:


        
        
            
                
                
                    df = pd.DataFrame({"A":[1,2,3]}, index=["b","a","c"])
df
                
            
               A
b  1
a  2
c  3

By default, ignore_index=False, which means that the index names are kept:


        
        
            
                
                
                    df.sort_index()
                
            
               A
a  2
b  1
c  3

By setting ignore_index=True, the index names will be reset to the default integer indices:


        
        
            
                
                
                    df.sort_index(ignore_index=True)
                
            
               A
0  2
1  1
2  3

Published by Isshin Inada

Edited by 0 others

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Official Pandas Documentation

https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/reference/api/pandas.DataFrame.sort_index.html

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