Understanding the Sort() Method and Its Return Value

While attempting to sort and return a list of unique words, you may encounter a common issue: the "return list.sort()" syntax does not return the sorted list as expected. This can be confusing, as it seems contradictory to the purpose of the sort() method. To clarify, let's examine how list.sort() works and why it returns None in this context.

The list.sort() method, as its name suggests, is responsible for sorting the elements of a given list. However, it operates in-place, modifying the original list rather than creating a new one. This means that it does not return a new, sorted list, which is probably what you intended in this case.

To obtain the sorted list, you can use the following syntax:

newList.sort()
return newList

Separating the sort() and return statements ensures that the original list is sorted and then returned, fulfilling your intended purpose.