They sure can: 
#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;

my @data = (
    { name => 'jim', age => 16 },
    { name => 'bob', age => 18 },
);

sub sort_me {
    my $field = shift;
    if ($field eq "name") {
        return sub { $a->{$field} cmp $b->{$field} };
    } else {
        return sub { $a->{$field} <=> $b->{$field} };
    }
}

my @sorted;

my $type = sort_me("name");
@sorted = sort $type @data;
$type = sort_me("age");
@sorted = sort $type @data;

[download]
Closures are so nice.

In reply to RE: Re: Advanced Sorting by chromatic
in thread Advanced Sorting by dsdisc

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