Describe where to navigate to sort a list

For sorting, either a weak order, "should not come after", can be specified, or a strict weak order, "should come before" (specifying one defines also the other, the two are the complements of the inverse of each other, see operations on binary relations). For the sorting to be unique, these two are restricted to a total order and a strict total order, respectively.

Sorting n-tuples (depending on context also called e. g. records consisting of fields) can be done based on one or more of its components. More generally objects can be sorted based on a property. Such a component or property is called a sort key.