Got absolutely bored and carried away with a course project... accidentally turned it into a whole thing :)

The Sorting Assignment (A step-by-step usage guide)

A modular Python application that demonstrates separation of concerns across sorting, I/O, networking, and orchestration layers.

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Features

• Sorting Module (sorting.py)

  • Implements core business logic (sort_data()).
  • Provides utility functions: sort_data_inplace(), is_sorted(), and built-in self-tests.
  • Handles mixed data types by converting non-comparable elements into strings.

• I/O Module (io_handler.py)

  • Abstracts console and file operations.
  • Functions: read_keyboard_input(), write_screen_output(), read_file_input(), write_file_output().
  • parse_input() detects integers, floats, and strings automatically.

• Networking Module (network_handler.py)

  • Provides NetworkServer and NetworkClient classes.
  • Supports TCP communication with customizable handlers.
  • Includes create_sorting_handler() to bridge sorting logic with network requests.

• Main Orchestrator (main.py)

  • Command-line entry point.
  • Routes execution to the correct module based on CLI arguments.
  • Demonstrates clean separation between orchestration and core logic.

Run the following command to display usage information:

  python3 main.py

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Requirements

• A Python 3.8+ version. To check your current version, execute the following command:

python3 --version

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Modes of Operation

1. Keyboard Input Mode

Interactive sorting directly from the terminal.

python3 main.py keyboard

2. File Mode

Read input from a file and write sorted output to another file (or display on screen if no output file is provided).

python3 main.py file <input_file> [output_file]

3. In-place File Sorting

Sort a file and overwrite it with the sorted content.

python3 main.py file_inplace <filename>

4. Network Server Mode

Start a TCP server that listens for sorting requests.

python3 main.py server [port] 

5. Network Client Mode

Connect to a server and send data for sorting.

python3 main.py client "<data>" [host] [port]

6. Test Mode

Run built-in tests for all modules.

python3 main.py test

7. Test individual modules

python3 sorting.py           # Test sorting module
python3 io_handler.py        # Test I/O module  
python3 network_handler.py   # Test network module

A common error

If you run the network_handler.py module directly without starting the server first:

$ python3 network_handler.py
Testing network module...
Server reachable: False
Client response: Error: Cannot connect to server at localhost:8080

This is expected behavior because the server is not running. To fix this, start the server first,

$ python3 network_handler.py server

Then run the client again to send data.

An individual course project by Shlok Mehendale