That looks a lot like a method used in Effective Perl Programming (see item 14 in the idiomatic perl pdf)

The goal is to sort /etc/passwd by the third field: 

  open PASSWD, "/etc/passwd" or die;
  @passwd = <PASSWD>;
  @key = map                            # Create an array @key contain
+ing
    { (split /:/)[2] } @passwd;         # just the keys (user ids).


  @by_uid_index = sort {                # Sort indices, using @key arr
+ay.
    $key[$a] <=> $key[$b]
  } 0 .. $#key;

  @by_uid = @passwd[@by_uid_index];     # Now, rearrange the contents 
+of
                                        # @passwd into sorted order.

Or just combine the last two statements:

  @by_uid = @passwd[sort { $key[$a] <=> $key[$b] } 0 .. $#key];

[download]
Well, this will work, and it's efficient enough, but there are prettier, more Perl-ish ways to present the solution.
It then goes on to describe the Orcish and Schwartzian under the heading of 'Advanced sorting: the cool ways'

-Blake

In reply to Re: Faster than the speed of sound (was: When the Best Solution Isn't) by blakem
in thread When the Best Solution Isn't by sauoq

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