Python Sort Multidimensional Array Based on 2nd Element of Subarray

list.sort, sorted accept optional key parameter. key function is used to generate comparison key.

>>> sorted(lst, key=lambda x: x[1], reverse=True)
[['I', 219], ['A', 22], ['P', 14], ['V', 13], ['G', 10], ...]

>>> sorted(lst, key=lambda x: -x[1])
[['I', 219], ['A', 22], ['P', 14], ['V', 13], ['G', 10], ...]

>>> import operator
>>> sorted(lst, key=operator.itemgetter(1), reverse=True)
[['I', 219], ['A', 22], ['P', 14], ['V', 13], ['G', 10], ...]

Use itemgetter

from operator import itemgetter
a = [[1, 3, 5], [2, 511, 7], [17, 233, 1]]
a = sorted(a, key=itemgetter(1))

Output : [[1, 3, 5], [17, 233, 1], [2, 511, 7]]

itemgetter can also be used to sort by multiple subarrays.