Quick sort a list of integers in place

Question

This code is meant to sort a list of integers in place using quick sort.

I'm doing this to improve my style and to improve my knowledge of fundamental algorithms/data structures for an upcoming coding interview.

def quicksort(l):
    quicksort_helper(l, 0, len(l)-1)


def quicksort_helper(l, lo, hi):
    if lo >= hi:
        return

    pivot_ind = partition(l, lo, hi)
    quicksort_helper(l, lo, pivot_ind-1)
    quicksort_helper(l, pivot_ind+1, hi)

def partition(l, lo, hi):
    pivot = l[hi]
    left = lo

    for right in range(lo, hi):
        if l[right] <= pivot:
            swap(l, left, right)
            left += 1
    swap(l, left, hi)

    pivot_ind = left
    return pivot_ind


def swap(l, i, j):
    temp = l[i]
    l[i] = l[j]
    l[j] = temp

Answer 1

Swapping

def swap(l, i, j):
    temp = l[i]
    l[i] = l[j]
    l[j] = temp

Just do:

l[i], l[j] = l[j], l[i] # (a)

You could abstract this into a swap function like you have done, but I probably wouldn't in this case. Matter of taste. Nevertheless, if you do swap the body definition should consist of (a).

Unnecessary variables.

pivot_ind = left
return pivot_ind

Just return left. Write a comment explaining what left is if you need to.