# 5.5 `bisect` -- Array bisection algorithm

This module provides support for maintaining a list in sorted order without having to sort the list after each insertion. For long lists of items with expensive comparison operations, this can be an improvement over the more common approach. The module is called `bisect` because it uses a basic bisection algorithm to do its work. The source code may be most useful as a working example of the algorithm (i.e., the boundary conditions are already right!).

The following functions are provided:

`bisect` (list, item[, lo[, hi]])
  Locate the proper insertion point for item in list to maintain sorted order. The parameters lo and hi may be used to specify a subset of the list which should be considered. The return value is suitable for use as the first parameter to `list.insert()`.

`insort` (list, item[, lo[, hi]])
  Insert item in list in sorted order. This is equivalent to `list.insert(bisect.bisect(list, item, lo, hi), item)`.

Subsections

- 5.5.1 Example