Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!ucsd!ucbvax!iwarp.intel.com!news
From: merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal L. Schwartz)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: Just Another Perl Novice
Keywords: sort
Message-ID: <1991Mar29.032459.8925@iwarp.intel.com>
Date: 29 Mar 91 03:24:59 GMT
References: <3539@inews.intel.com>
Sender: news@iwarp.intel.com
Reply-To: merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal L. Schwartz)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Stonehenge; netaccess via Intel, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
Lines: 47
In-Reply-To: dmccart@morticia.intel.com (D. J. McCarthy ~)

In article <3539@inews.intel.com>, dmccart@morticia (D. J. McCarthy ~) writes:
| - Is it the version I'm running?  It does look mighty old.

Yes.

| - How can I do what I want to do without getting a new version?  (It's
|   not that I don't want to, or that I don't have permission on the 490;
|   it's just that uunet doesn't like me.)

Replace it with

| #!/usr/local/bin/perl
| 
| sub bynumber { $b <=> $a; }

sub bynumber { $b - $a; }

## this works for *integers* only

| $thisdie = 1;
| while ($thisdie <= 4) {
|    @rolls[$thisdie] = int(rand(6)) + 1;
     $rolls[$thisdie] = int(rand(6)) + 1;
| }
| 
| @sortrolls = sort bynumber @rolls;

@foo[] gives you an array of variables, where $foo[] gives you a
scalar variable.

Personally, I'd code that more like:

sub bynumber { $b - $a; }

@rolls = ();
for (1..4) {
	push(@rolls, int(rand(6)) + 1;
}

@rolls = sort bynumber @rolls;

print "Just another Perl hacker,"
-- 
/=Randal L. Schwartz, Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 ==========\
| on contract to Intel's iWarp project, Beaverton, Oregon, USA, Sol III      |
| merlyn@iwarp.intel.com ...!any-MX-mailer-like-uunet!iwarp.intel.com!merlyn |
\=Cute Quote: "Intel: putting the 'backward' in 'backward compatible'..."====/