use Benchmark "cmpthese"; our @files = glob "/bin/*"; our (@o, @s, @g); cmpthese -1 => { ordinary => '@o = sort {-s $a <=> -s $b} @files', st => '@s = map $_ -> [0], sort {$a -> [1] <=> $b -> [1]} map [$_ => -s], @files', grt => '@g = map substr ($_, 8), sort map sprintf ("%08d%s", -s, $_), @files', }; die unless "@o" eq "@s" && "@o" eq "@g"; __END__ Rate ordinary st grt ordinary 684/s -- -54% -63% st 1492/s 118% -- -20% grt 1864/s 172% 25% --