# -- input -- my @r = ( [ 5, 3 => 5, 5 ], [ 1, 1 => 2, 1 ], [ 2, 1 => 2, 3 ], [ 5, 5 => 1, 5 ], [ 1, 5 => 1, 1 ], [ 2, 3 => 5, 3 ], ); # -- work -- %lookup = map { join(',', $_->[0], $_->[1]) => join(',', $_->[2], $_->[3]) } @r; $start = $next = (sort(keys(%lookup)))[0]; #$start = $next = (keys(%lookup))[0]; do { push(@x, [ split(/\,/, $next) ]); $next = $lookup{$next}; die("broken!\n") unless defined($next); } while ($next ne $start); # -- output -- printf("[ %d, %d ]\n", @$_) foreach (@x); __END__ output: [ 1, 1 ] [ 2, 1 ] [ 2, 3 ] [ 5, 3 ] [ 5, 5 ] [ 1, 5 ] time complexity: O(n) (without the unneccesary sort)