C:\>perl -v
This is perl, v5.8.4 built for MSWin32-x86-multi-thread

##</code><code>##

$ perl -v

This is perl, v5.6.1 built for i386-linux

##</code><code>##

  # sort criteria eval-ed: wacky results
  my $sortCriteria = sub { $hr->{$b}->{"number"} <=> $hr->{$a}->{"number"};};
  # WHAT AM I DOING WRONG ON THE NEXT LINE?
  @sortedKeys = sort { &{$sortCriteria} } keys %$hr;
  print "\n\nsort criteria eval-ed\n";
  foreach my $sortedKey(@sortedKeys){
    print $hr->{$sortedKey}->{"number"} . " " . $hr->{$sortedKey}->{'name'} . "\n";
  }

##</code><code>##

  # sort criteria eval-ed: wacky results
  my $sortCriteria = '$hr->{$b}->{"number"} <=> $hr->{$a}->{"number"};';
  # WHAT AM I DOING WRONG ON THE NEXT LINE?
  @sortedKeys = sort { &x($sortCriteria) } keys %$hr;
  print "\n\nsort criteria eval-ed\n";
  foreach my $sortedKey(@sortedKeys){
    print $hr->{$sortedKey}->{"number"} . " " . $hr->{$sortedKey}->{'name'} . "\n";
  }
  sub x {
    eval shift;
  }