Basically what you do is make an array of references to arrays with two elements. The first element is your element in your original array, the second element is the value you compute to sort on. Note we only do this once not every time we do a comparison in the sort. This will result in a huge time savings in sorting a large array. Next we sort on this computed value. Then we return an array containing only the original elements. 
@sortedarray=
 map{$_->[0]}  # return an array that only contains the original value
+s (now sorted)
    # sort on $computedsortval
    # you use only use one of these sort lines
    sort{$a->[1] <=> $b->[1]} # this one for numerical sorting
    sort{$a->[1] cmp $b->[1]} # this one for textual sorting
    
    #this map block computes the value you're going to sort on 
    #and places it in $computedsortval

    map{
       #calculate $computedsortval
       [$_,$computedsortval];
    } @origarray;

[download]

In reply to Re: How do I do a complex sort on an array? by vroom
in thread How do I do a complex sort on an array? by vroom

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.