my @pretty = sort { my @a = $a =~ /^(.+?)(\d*)$/; my @b = $b =~ /^(.+?)(\d*)$/; return ( $a[0] cmp $b[0] ) || ( $a[1] && $b[1] && $a[1] <=> $b[1] ) || ( $a[1] && 1 ) || ( $b[1] && -1 ); } @not_so_pretty;