Guido grants a Christmas wish:

  sorted() becomes a regular function instead of a classmethod.

4 files changed, 24 insertions, 22 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/lib/libfuncs.tex b/Doc/lib/libfuncs.tex
index dc9f344481..99c586b871 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libfuncs.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libfuncs.tex
@@ -886,6 +886,15 @@ class C(object):
   \samp{a[start:stop, i]}.
 \end{funcdesc}
 
+\begin{funcdesc}{sorted(\var{iterable}\optional{, \var{cmp}=None
+                                      \optional{, \var{key}=None
+                                      \optional{, \var{reverse}=False}}})}
+  Return a new sorted list from the items in \var{iterable}.
+  The optional arguments \var{cmp}, \var{key}, and \var{reverse}
+  have the same meaning as those for the \method{list.sort()} method.
+  \versionadded{2.4}    
+\end{funcdesc}
+
 \begin{funcdesc}{staticmethod}{function}
   Return a static method for \var{function}.
 
diff --git a/Doc/lib/libitertools.tex b/Doc/lib/libitertools.tex
index 59fb1852ad..a85e048029 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libitertools.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libitertools.tex
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ Samuele
 # Show a dictionary sorted and grouped by value
 >>> from operator import itemgetter
 >>> d = dict(a=1, b=2, c=1, d=2, e=1, f=2, g=3)
->>> di = list.sorted(d.iteritems(), key=itemgetter(1))
+>>> di = sorted(d.iteritems(), key=itemgetter(1))
 >>> for k, g in groupby(di, key=itemgetter(1)):
 ...     print k, map(itemgetter(0), g)
 ...
diff --git a/Doc/lib/libstdtypes.tex b/Doc/lib/libstdtypes.tex
index 8b6b194522..6e38222a23 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libstdtypes.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libstdtypes.tex
@@ -988,9 +988,6 @@ The following operations are defined on mutable sequence types (where
   \lineiii{\var{s}.sort(\optional{\var{cmp}=None\optional{, \var{key}=None
                         \optional{, \var{reverse}=False}}})}
 	{sort the items of \var{s} in place}{(7), (8), (9), (10)}
-  \lineiii{\var{s}.sorted(\var{iterable}\optional{, \var{cmp}=None\optional{, \var{key}=None
-                        \optional{, \var{reverse}=False}}})}
-	{return a new sorted list from the items in \var{iterable}}{(8), (9), (11)}     
 \end{tableiii}
 \indexiv{operations on}{mutable}{sequence}{types}
 \indexiii{operations on}{sequence}{types}
@@ -1040,8 +1037,8 @@ Notes:
   list.  To remind you that they operate by side effect, they don't return
   the sorted or reversed list.
 
-\item[(8)] The \method{sort()} and \method{sorted()} methods take optional
-  arguments for controlling the comparisons.
+\item[(8)] The \method{sort()} method takes optional arguments for
+  controlling the comparisions.
 
   \var{cmp} specifies a custom comparison function of two arguments
      (list items) which should return a negative, zero or positive number
@@ -1068,8 +1065,7 @@ Notes:
   \versionchanged[Support for \var{key} and \var{reverse} was added]{2.4}
 
 \item[(9)]  Starting with Python 2.3, the \method{sort()} method is
-  guaranteed to be stable.  Starting with Python 2.4, the \method{sorted()}
-  method is also guaranteed to be stable.  A sort is stable if it does not
+  guaranteed to be stable.  A sort is stable if it guarantees not to
   change the relative order of elements that compare equal --- this is
   helpful for sorting in multiple passes (for example, sort by
   department, then by salary grade).
@@ -1079,9 +1075,6 @@ Notes:
   of Python 2.3 makes the list appear empty for the duration, and raises
   \exception{ValueError} if it can detect that the list has been
   mutated during a sort.
-
-\item[(11)] \method{sorted()} is a class method that returns a new list.
-  \versionadded{2.4}
 \end{description}
 
 \subsection{Set Types \label{types-set}}
diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew24.tex b/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew24.tex
index 9e699a3dce..a881393105 100644
--- a/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew24.tex
+++ b/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew24.tex
@@ -177,9 +177,9 @@ they were input.  For example, you can sort a list of people by name,
 and then sort the list by age, resulting in a list sorted by age where
 people with the same age are in name-sorted order.
 
-\item The list type gained a \method{sorted(iterable)} method that works
-like the in-place \method{sort()} method but has been made suitable for
-use in expressions.  The differences are:
+\item There is a new builtin function \function{sorted(iterable)} that works
+like the in-place \method{list.sort()} method but has been made suitable
+for use in expressions.  The differences are:
   \begin{itemize}
   \item the input may be any iterable;
   \item a newly formed copy is sorted, leaving the original intact; and
@@ -188,17 +188,17 @@ use in expressions.  The differences are:
 
 \begin{verbatim}
 >>> L = [9,7,8,3,2,4,1,6,5]
->>> [10+i for i in list.sorted(L)]  # usable in a list comprehension
+>>> [10+i for i in sorted(L)]       # usable in a list comprehension
 [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19]
 >>> L = [9,7,8,3,2,4,1,6,5]         # original is left unchanged
 [9,7,8,3,2,4,1,6,5]   
 
->>> list.sorted('Monte Python')     # any iterable may be an input
+>>> sorted('Monte Python')          # any iterable may be an input
 [' ', 'M', 'P', 'e', 'h', 'n', 'n', 'o', 'o', 't', 't', 'y']
 
 >>> # List the contents of a dict sorted by key values
 >>> colormap = dict(red=1, blue=2, green=3, black=4, yellow=5)
->>> for k, v in list.sorted(colormap.iteritems()):
+>>> for k, v in sorted(colormap.iteritems()):
 ...     print k, v
 ...
 black 4
@@ -301,14 +301,14 @@ counting, or identifying duplicate elements:
 
 \begin{verbatim}
 >>> word = 'abracadabra'
->>> word = list.sorted(word)   # Turn string into sorted list of letters
->>> word 
+>>> letters = sorted(word)   # Turn string into sorted list of letters
+>>> letters 
 ['a', 'a', 'a', 'a', 'a', 'b', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'r', 'r']
->>> [k for k, g in groupby(word)]   # List the various group keys
+>>> [k for k, g in groupby(word)]                     # List unique letters
 ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'r']
->>> [(k, len(list(g))) for k, g in groupby(word)] # List key and group length
+>>> [(k, len(list(g))) for k, g in groupby(word)]     # Count letter occurences
 [('a', 5), ('b', 2), ('c', 1), ('d', 1), ('r', 2)]
->>> [k for k, g in groupby(word) if len(list(g)) > 1] # All groups of size >1
+>>> [k for k, g in groupby(word) if len(list(g)) > 1] # List duplicate letters
 ['a', 'b', 'r']
 \end{verbatim}