Numeric & Key Sorting

Plain sort treats everything as text. The number 9 sorts after 80 because 9 comes after 8 alphabetically. To sort by actual numeric value, use -n:

sort -n scores.txt

5
12
80
103

Without -n the order would be 103, 12, 5, 80 (text sorting).

Sorting by a specific column with -k

Many data files have columns separated by spaces. Use -k to sort by a particular column number:

sort -k2 roster.txt

This sorts by the second column. Combine with -n to sort numerically by that column:

sort -k2 -n roster.txt

Specifying a delimiter with -t

If columns are separated by something other than whitespace (like a colon), tell sort:

sort -t: -k3 -n data.txt

This uses : as the delimiter and sorts by column 3 numerically.

Mission: Power Grid Diagnostics

Engineering detected fluctuations in the station's power grid. The file power_readings.txt lists each sector and its current power level. To act on the weakest sector first, you need the readings ordered and filed.

1. Sort power_readings.txt numerically by the second column so the lowest power reading appears at the top, and display it.
2. Save that sorted diagnostic into a new file called diagnostics.txt.
3. Create a folder called engineering and move diagnostics.txt into it.
4. Show just the top line: the weakest sector, which the repair crew handles first.

Expected result

engineering/diagnostics.txt lists the sectors in ascending power order, from epsilon 5 to delta 800.