What sorting algorithm does Python use by default when sorting lists?

Python uses the Timsort algorithm by default for sorting lists. It is a hybrid sorting algorithm that combines merge sort and insertion sort methods.

Features of Timsort:

• Optimized for real-world data, often containing already sorted segments.
• Stable (maintains the order of equal elements).
• Efficient in terms of time and memory.

Example of usage:

lst = [5, 3, 1, 4, 2]
lst.sort()
print(lst)  # [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]