>>>>> "Dan" == Dan Brian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Dan> IMO the very quest for a name would be reason enough to not do it.
Dan> "map_sort_map"? That begs the question. And since Randal asks that it not
Dan> be named after him ... (I heard he filed a trademark on Schwartzian, so
Dan> that's out. :)
It's just that it means nothing, except to those who probably already
know how to open-code the map-sort-map. So there's no gain. Maybe we
could just teach sort how to do this neater, so there's no new
operator. Like maybe
sort { $a/$b expression } { transforming expression, glued with $_ } @list
so $a->[0] is guaranteed to be the original element, and the list-return
value of the second block becomes $a->[1]... $a->[$#$a].
So, to sort case insensitive (bad example :):
@sorted = sort { $a->[1] cmp $b->[1] } { uc } @list;
or to sort on GCOS and then username of password lines:
@sorted = sort { $a->[5] cmp $b->[5] or $a->[1] cmp $b->[1] }
{ split /:/ } `cat /etc/passwd`;
That captures the canonical ST pretty well, where $a->[0] is always
the original element.
Maybe we can call this operator "schwart". :)
--
Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
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