list - Why does Python sort put upper case items first?

Question

Not looking for a work around. Looking to understand why Python sorts this way.

>>> a = ['aaa','Bbb']
>>> a.sort()
>>> print(a)
['Bbb', 'aaa']

>>> a = ['aaa','bbb']
>>> a.sort()
>>> print(a)
['aaa', 'bbb']

Answer 1

This is because upper case chars have an ASCII value lower than that of lower case. And hence if we sort them in increasing order, the upper case will come before the lower case

• ASCII of A is 65
• ASCII of a is 97

65<97

And hence A < a if you sort in increasing order