sub dict_sort { my @unsorted = @_; my @sorted = map $_->[0], sort { my $i = 0; { my $A = $a->[1][$i]; my $B = $b->[1][$i]; defined($A) || defined($B) # Stop if both undef and ( defined($A) <=> defined($B) # Defined wins over undef or ( $A !~ /\d/ || $B !~ /\d/ # $A or $B is non-integer ? (lc $A cmp lc $B) # ?? Stringy lowercase || ( $A cmp $B) # -> Tie breaker : $A <=> $B # :: $A and $B are integers or ( length($A) <=> length($B) # If numeric comparison returns the same, check length to sort by leading zeroes ) ) or ++$i && redo # tie => next part ); } } map [ $_, [ split /(\d+)/ ] ], @unsorted; return @sorted; }