Uri Guttman wrote: >>>>>> "LW" == Larry Wall <la...@wall.org> writes: > > >>> infix:<cmp> does numeric comparison if both operands are numbers, and > >>> string comparison otherwise. > > LW> That is a bit of an oversimplification. > > LW> Any type may define infix:<cmp> however it likes for two arguments of > LW> its own type. It may also define multis with other types that define > LW> desirable coercions. The infix:<cmp>:(Any,Any) routine is what would > LW> be providing the default string coercion, so it would succeed for > LW> any two different types that match Any and have string coercions. > LW> Outside of Any are the Object and Junction types; I suppose cmp can > LW> thread on junctions, but trying to sort junctions might well result > LW> in aberrant behavior, especially if we choose a sort algorithm that > LW> coredumps on circular ordering relations. :) > > this means cmp still does a string compare as long as it can coerce its > args to strings.
... and as long as no other multis are specified. I know at least of infix:<cmp>(Num $a, Num $b) (which does the same as Perl 5's <=>) and infix:<cmp>(Pair $a, Pair $b) (which does $a.key cmp $a.key || $a.value cmp $b.value), so numbers and pairs DWIM. Likewise sorting of AoAs is specified to first sort on the first items, then on the seconds etc. Cheers, Moritz
