How to sort_by date in Ruby (not Rails)?

def sort_by_date(dates, direction="ASC")
  sorted = dates.sort
  sorted.reverse! if direction == "DESC"
  sorted
end

Something like this?

  class Array
    def sort_by_date(direction="ASC")
      if direction == "ASC"
        self.sort
      elsif direction == "DESC"
        self.sort {|a,b| b <=> a}
      else
        raise "Invalid direction. Specify either ASC or DESC."    
      end
    end
  end

A multi-dimensional array is just an array of arrays, so call this method on the 'dimension' you want to sort.

The way I am doing it right now it is:

@collection.sort! { |a,b|  DateTime.parse(a['date']) <=> DateTime.parse(b['date']) }

And with the ! operator I am affecting the same variable (otherwise I will need another one to hold the modified variable). So far, it's working as a charm.