NAME

Sort::Key - Perl extension for sorting objects by some key

SYNOPSIS

use Sort::Key;

@by_name = keysort { "$_->{surname} $_->{name}" } @people;
@by_age = nkeysort { $_->{age} } @people;
@by_sons = ikeysort { $_->{sons} } @people;

DESCRIPTION

Sort::Key provides a set of functions to sort object arrays by some (calculated) key value.

Usually, it is faster and uses less memory than other alternatives implemented around perl sort function.

EXPORT

This package exports these functions:

keysort { CALC_KEY } @array

returns the elements on @array sorted by the key calculated applying { CALC_KEY } to them.

Inside { CALC_KEY }, the object is available as $_.

For example:

@a=({name=>john, surname=>smith}, {name=>paul, surname=>belvedere});
@by_name=keysort {$_->{name}} @a;

lkeysort { CALC_KEY } @array

similar to keysort but takes into account locale configuration when comparing keys.

nkeysort { CALC_KEY } @array

similar to keysort but compares the keys numerically instead of as strings.

ikeysort { CALC_KEY } @array

similar to keysort but automatically converts the keys to integer values and compares them numerically.

SEE ALSO

perl sort function

AUTHOR

Salvador Fandiño, <sfandino@yahoo.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2005 by Salvador Fandiño

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.4 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.