# => │ 5 │ foo20  │
# => ╰───┴────────╯
# "1" is sorted before "9", so "10" is sorted before "9"
$data | sort -n
# => ╭───┬────────╮
# => │ 0 │ 9      │
# => │ 1 │ 10     │
# => │ 2 │ bar20  │
# => │ 3 │ bar123 │
# => │ 4 │ foo20  │
# => │ 5 │ foo123 │
# => ╰───┴────────╯
```

Furthermore, natural sort allows you to sort numbers together with numeric strings:

```nu
let data = [4, "6.2", 1, "10", 2, 8.1, "3", 5.5, "9", 7]
$data | sort -n
# => ╭───┬──────╮
# => │ 0 │    1 │
# => │ 1 │    2 │
# => │ 2 │ 3    │
# => │ 3 │    4 │
# => │ 4 │ 5.50 │
# => │ 5 │ 6.2  │
# => │ 6 │    7 │
# => │ 7 │ 8.10 │
# => │ 8 │ 9    │
# => │ 9 │ 10   │
# => ╰───┴──────╯
```

### Sorting with mixed types

Under some circumstances, you might need to sort data containing mixed types. There are a couple things to be aware of when sorting mixed types:

- Generally, values of the same type will appear next to each other in the sort order. For example, sorted numbers come first, then sorted strings, then sorted lists.
- Some types will be intermixed in the sort order. These are:
  - Integers and floats. For example, `[2.2, 1, 3]` will be sorted as `[1, 2.2, 3]`.
  - Strings and globs. For example, `[("b" | into glob) a c]` will be sorted as `[a b c]` (where b is still a glob).
  - If using [natural sort](#natural-sort), integers, floats, and strings will be intermixed as described in that section.
- The ordering between non-intermixed types is not guaranteed, **except** for `null` values, which will always be sorted to the end of a list.
  - Within the same Nushell version the ordering should always be the same, but this should not be relied upon. If you have code which is sensitive to the ordering across types, consider using a [custom sort](#custom-sort-order) which better expresses your requirements.

If you need to sort data which may contain mixed types, consider one of the following strategies:

- [Strict sort](#strict-sort) to disallow sorting of incompatible types
- [Natural sort](#natural-sort) to sort intermixed numbers and numeric strings
- A [key sort](#sort-by-key-closure) using [`to text`](/commands/docs/to_text.html), [`to nuon`](/commands/docs/to_nuon.html), or [`to json`](/commands/docs/to_json.html), as appropriate