my @sorted = sort { $a <=> $b } @numbers;
my $min = $sorted[0];
my $max = $sorted[-1];
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An exposition of ikegami's reply (beginners in mind):

• my @sorted = sort { $a <=> $b } @numbers;
  Calls sort on @numbers, storing returned list in @sorted. Passes sort a code block to use as a comparison function (used to determine whether to swap two elements). $a and $b can be used within the code block to reference the elements being compared. To reverse the sort order, reverse $a and $b in the code block:
  sort { $b <=> $a } @numbers
• my $min = $sorted[0];
  sort { $a <=> $b } will sort the numbers in ascending order, so the first element of the resultant array is the minimum.
• my $max = $sorted[-1];
  An index of -1 refers to the last element, which is of course the maximum.

---

undef $lunches{free}

You don't need to sort the array to get the minimum and maximum values, a simple loop will do:

$ perl -le'
my @array = ( 99, 67, 0, -100, -38, 98 );

my ( $min, $max ) = @array;

for my $element ( @array ) {
    $min = $element if $min > $element;
    $max = $element if $max < $element;
    }

print "Min = $min and Max = $max";
'
Min = -100 and Max = 99
[download]

Ummm...isn't a sort a bit easier and simpler?

my @array = ( 99, 67, 0, -100, -38, 98);
my ($min, $max) = (sort @array)[0,-1];
[download]


___________
Eric Hodges

Easier and simpler, but less efficient (O n log n, perhaps) than jwkrahn's approach (O n). Of course this won't matter for small data sets.

As already stated by ikegami, you really need to use the numerical sort: sort {$a <=> $b} @array

Try changing your data set to my @array = ( -10, 99, 67, 0, -100, -38, 98) and using that sort routine. This is probably the problem the OP is having. You're going to get -10 as the minimum.

You can also get the minimum value by using the

This will hold the last element's index in the array

i am using "sort" which is not working on the negative numbers.