The advantage of having a -n option to sort meant that sort users had an optimized numerical sort from the start. It took Perl more than ten years to optimize the common {$a <=> $b} such that one doesn't need to enter/leave a scope for each comparison.

Oh, and -n types a lot faster than {$a <=> $b}.

In reply to Re^3: Perl credited with changing the rules by Anonymous Monk
in thread Perl credited with changing the rules by mr_mischief

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