A slightly more convenient alternative to the builtin `sorted()` which allows you to specify a key as something other than a function.

convenient_sort.py

"""
A slightly more convenient alternative to the builtin `sorted()` which allows
you to specify a key as something other than a function.
For example, with a list of lists, if you wanted to sort by the last element you
could use `sort(lstseq, key=-1)` rather than `sorted(lstseq, key=lambda x: x[-1])`.
If your key *is* a function, it behaves identically to `sorted()`, because it is
really just wrapping the builtin.

Examples
--------

# sort by index
>>> sort([[1, 2], [3, 4], [0, 5]], key=[1])
[[1, 2], [3, 4], [0, 5]]
>>> sort([[1, 2], [3, 4], [0, 5]], key=1)
[[1, 2], [3, 4], [0, 5]]

# sort by key name
>>> lst = [{'x': 109, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 101, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 101, 'y': 'o'}]
>>> sort(lst, 'y')
[{'x': 109, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 101, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 101, 'y': 'o'}]

# sort by multiple criteria
[{'x': 101, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 109, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 101, 'y': 'o'}]
"""
import operator


def getter(index):
    """Abstract getter function for different possible indices"""
    if isinstance(index, (list, tuple)):
        if len(index) == 1:
            index = index[0]
            return lambda x: (x[index],)
        elif index:
            return operator.itemgetter(*index)
        else:
            return lambda x: ()
    else:
        return operator.itemgetter(index)


def sort(iterable, key=None, reverse=False):
    """Return a sorted list from an iterable using the builtin `sorted()`.
    
    It has the same options but is more convenient because keys can be specified as
    strings or indices in addition to functions.
    
    # sort by index
    >>> sort([[1, 2], [3, 4], [0, 5]], key=[1])
    [[1, 2], [3, 4], [0, 5]]
    >>> sort([[1, 2], [3, 4], [0, 5]], key=1)
    [[1, 2], [3, 4], [0, 5]]
    
    # sort by key name
    >>> lst = [{'x': 109, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 101, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 101, 'y': 'o'}]
    >>> sort(lst, 'y')
    [{'x': 109, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 101, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 101, 'y': 'o'}]
    
    # sort by multiple criteria
    [{'x': 101, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 109, 'y': 'm'}, {'x': 101, 'y': 'o'}]
    """
    if key is not None and not callable(key):
        key = getter(key)
    return sorted(iterable, key=key, reverse=reverse)