>>> list = [2,5,8,9,3] 
>>> list 
[2,5,8,9,3] 
>>> list.sort() 
>>> list 
[2, 3, 5, 8, 9]

>>> list = [2,5,8,9,3] 
>>> list 
[2,5,8,9,3] 
>>> sorted(list) 
[2, 3, 5, 8, 9]

>>>L = [2,3,1,4]
>>>L.sort()
>>>L
>>>[1,2,3,4]

>>>L = [2,3,1,4]
>>>L.sort(reverse=True)
>>>L
>>>[4,3,2,1]

>>>L = [('b',6),('a',1),('c',3),('d',4)]
>>>L.sort(lambda x,y:cmp(x[1],y[1])) 
>>>L
>>>[('a', 1), ('c', 3), ('d', 4), ('b', 6)]

>>>L = [('b',6),('a',1),('c',3),('d',4)]
>>>L.sort(key=lambda x:x[1]) 
>>>L
>>>[('a', 1), ('c', 3), ('d', 4), ('b', 6)]

>>>L = [('b',2),('a',1),('c',3),('d',4)]
>>>import operator
>>>L.sort(key=operator.itemgetter(1)) 
>>>L
>>>[('a', 1), ('b', 2), ('c', 3), ('d', 4)]

>>>L = [('b',2),('a',1),('c',3),('d',4)]
>>>A = [(x[1],i,x) for i,x in enumerate(L)] #i can confirm the stable sort
>>>A.sort()
>>>L = [s[2] for s in A]
>>>L
>>>[('a', 1), ('b', 2), ('c', 3), ('d', 4)]

>>>L = [('d',2),('a',4),('b',3),('c',2)]
>>> L.sort(key=lambda x:x[1])
>>> L
>>>[('d', 2), ('c', 2), ('b', 3), ('a', 4)]

>>> L = [('d',2),('a',4),('b',3),('c',2)]
>>> L.sort(key=lambda x:(x[1],x[0]))
>>> L
>>>[('c', 2), ('d', 2), ('b', 3), ('a', 4)]

>>> L = [('d',2),('a',4),('b',3),('c',2)]
>>> L.sort(key=operator.itemgetter(1,0))
>>> L
>>>[('c', 2), ('d', 2), ('b', 3), ('a', 4)]