Re: Dropping the ampersand

[ikegami]

sort treats the first parameter specially if it looks like a function name. It uses the function by the specified name as the compare function during sorting. You can use a unary-+ to disambiguate.

@livesys = sort +Con::liveones;
is the same
@livesys = sort { $a cmp $b } Con::liveones;
with no lost efficiency.

It's no better and no worse than
@livesys = sort &Con::liveones;

Both are better than
@livesys = sort @{[Con::liveones]};

[diotalevi]

You don't lose any efficiency with sort { $a cmp $b }. It's special cased along with several other similar kinds of sorts.