Take a deep breath and look at it again.

@sorted = sort @unsorted;
$string = join " ", @sorted;
print $string;
[download]

That's the same as....

print join( " ", sort @unsorted );
[download]

Except that you're not using two intermediate variables. sort takes a list or array as input, and spits out a sorted list which you can either slurp into an array, or send into the input side of join. join takes a list or array as input, and joins its elements together with whatever you put between the quotes, to create a single big-old string. print takes a list (even if the list is one element... and in this case the one element is the string which is the output of join).

Hope this helps...