Reverse Alphabetically Sorting an array

It's easy enough to do:

my (@array) = ("fred","barney","wilma","betty");
@array = sort @array;
@array = reverse @array;
print "@array\n";
[download]

But if you have to do that with a lot of arrays in one program, you can save on typing by putting it into a sub:

sub reversi {
my (@array) = @_;
print reverse sort(@array);
}
[download]

and then just call reversi(@yourarrayhere)

UPDATE: Modified sub code to follow jZed's suggestion. UPDATE: Fixed spelling error pointed out.

Comment on Reverse Alphabetically Sorting an array Select or Download Code

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•Re: Reverse Alphabetically Sorting an array by merlyn (Sage) on Jan 10, 2005 at 01:02 UTC
I'm not sure why I'd introduce the overhead of calling a subroutine, when "reverse sort" is a natural idiom (it reads like what it does). Can you motivate your post a little better for me? Also, keep in mind that recent Perls actually note the "reverse sort" combo, and never bother creating the forward list just to reverse it: instead, "sort" sorts backwards (how clever is that?). -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.	[reply]
Re^2: Reverse Alphabetically Sorting an array by matra555 (Monk) on Jan 10, 2005 at 13:09 UTC
I could be mistaken, but if I was maintaining someone elses code, it would save me typing to write a sub and plug the arrays into it, rather than retype them to fit the idiom. Moreover, I did check the relevant categories in Q&A, and didn't see it there.	[reply]
Re^3: Reverse Alphabetically Sorting an array by Aristotle (Chancellor) on Jan 10, 2005 at 19:34 UTC
I don't like adding functions for such overly trivial things. It doesn't take someone else any more effort to read `reverse sort @foo` than to read `reversi @foo`, but with the cute name you used for the latter, they'll have to look up what the function does in the first place. Makeshifts last the longest.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: Reverse Alphabetically Sorting an array by mowgli (Friar) on Jan 10, 2005 at 19:15 UTC
It's not in there because it's obvious. :) -- mowgli	[reply]
Re: Reverse Alphabetically Sorting an array by jZed (Prior) on Jan 09, 2005 at 23:24 UTC
What's wrong with: print reverse sort qw(fred barney wilma betty);	[reply]
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Re: Reverse Alphabetically Sorting an array by DaWolf (Curate) on Jan 11, 2005 at 05:30 UTC
BTW, your sub's code: `sub reversi { my (@array) = @_; print resverse sort(@array); }` [download] should be: `sub reversi { my (@array) = @_; print reverse sort(@array); }` [download] There's a typo on `reverse`. Regards, Er Galvão Abbott www.galvao.eti.br Porto Alegre Perl Mongers	[reply] [d/l] [select]


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