Try this example:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use Data::Dumper;

$array[0] = "sponge";

for ($_=2;$_<=20;$_+=2) {

  $num = $freq{$array[0]}{"freq"}++;
  $freq{$array[0]}{"value"}[$num] = $_;
}

$array[0] = "wombat";

for (1..5) {

  $num = $freq{$array[0]}{"freq"}++;
  $freq{$array[0]}{"value"}[$num] = $_;
}
                                            

my @sorted_array = sort {$freq{$b}{"freq"} <=> $freq{$a}{"freq"}} keys
+ %freq;

print Dumper(\%freq);
print "@sorted_array\n";
[download]

For each of the elements sponge and wombat, build a list of values and store the total number of values.

The sort sorts the keys of the hash (wombat and sponge) by the frequency.

--
Steve Marvell