complicated-sort.pl

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use v5.10;    # to have say

# Get five random dates in the format MM-DD-YYYY
my @dates;
my $n = 0;
while ( $n++ <= 4 ) {
    #<<<
    push @dates, sprintf "%02d-%02d-%4d", 
      int( rand(12) ) + 1,        # month
      int( rand(31) ) + 1,        # day
      int( rand(114) ) + 1900;    # year between 1900 and 2014
    #>>>
}

my @sorted = sort {
    my ( $ma, $da, $ya ) = split /-/, $a;
    my ( $mb, $db, $yb ) = split /-/, $b;
    $ya <=> $yb || $ma <=> $mb || $da <=> $db;
} @dates;

say "## Unsorted";
say for @dates;
say "## Sorted ascending";
say for @sorted;
say "## Sorted descending";
say for reverse @sorted;