use Date::Parse;
my @dates = qw[ 02/03/08 02/04/02 3:00pm 4:00am ];
my @sorted = sort {str2time($a) <=> str2time($b)} @dates;
print $_,"\n" for @sorted;
__END__
02/04/02
4:00am
3:00pm
02/03/08
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Since str2time() is a relatively expensive routine, this a perfect time for pulling out the "Orcish Maneuver".

In the example above, change   my @sorted = sort {str2time($a) <=> str2time($b)} @dates; to

  my %cache;
  my @sorted = sort {($cache{$a} ||= str2time($a)) <=>
                     ($cache{$b} ||= str2time($b)) } @dates;
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dws ++ - a useful idiom in many circumstances. But why "orcish"?

§ George Sherston