Phil

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
my @array = qw( b d c a e g f );
print shift @{[ sort @array ]};
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Note that this is true with a number of other different perlfuncs that return as immutable lists rather than arrays... copying the de-referenced return and forcing it back into an array will cure most non-perlish headaches.

For example:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

my @array = qw( a b c d e f );

# With sort..
my $sorted = shift( @{ [ sort( @array ) ] } );

# With grep
my $grepped = shift( @{ [ grep{ /\w+/ } @array ] } );

# With map
my $mapped = shift( @{ [ map{ $_ } @array ] } );

# As a stringified method call
my $method = "@{ [ FooBar->new()->a_method() ] }";

print "$sorted\n$grepped\n$mapped\n$method\n";

package FooBar;

use strict;
use warnings;

sub new { return bless {}, shift; }

sub a_method{ return 'some string'; }
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Yay for Perl!

---hA||ta----
print map{$_.' '}grep{/\w+/}@{[reverse(qw{Perl Code})]} or die while ( 'trying' );

I don't know why you'd waste the time and space to array-ify the return value when a literal slice will work just as easily for those. Instead of:

my $result = shift @{[some list function]};
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just write

my $result = (some list function)[0];
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A whole lot easier on the CPU and the eyes. That's why I invented the literal slice (one of the few things I can lay direct claim to in Perl).

Of course, if you're going to store it into a scalar like this, you can simplify it further:

my ($result) = some list function;
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-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

similar to my first thought which was:

 perl -le '@x=(9,8,4,3,6,5); print ((sort @x)[0])'
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BUT not what OP wanted .. he wants @array to contain N-1 values at the end.. Something like (though not the most efficent):

 perl -le '@x=(9,8,4,3,6,5); print join ":", ((sort @x)[1..$#x])'

# OP:
@array = sort @array;
shift @array;

#using above:
@array = ((sort @array)[1..$#array])
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if ($array->[$_] == $number) {
  splice(@$array, $_, 1);
}
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But be careful using splice on any part of a LIST that you're iterating over with foreach.

       If any part of LIST is an array, foreach will get very
       confused if you add or remove elements within the loop
       body, for example with splice.   So don't do that.
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<tt class='inlinecode'>shift</tt> requires an array for argument, not a list. Perhaps you want (sort @array)[0]?

Update: s/sort requires/shift requires/

Something tells me there is a better way. Any suggestions?

do {(my $t,@a) = sort @a};

Update: Use tinita's suggestion below. It's the idiom I had in mind anyway; I guess I just didn't recall it correctly.

(undef, @a) = sort @a;