x =  "lions, tigers, and"
y =  "bears, oh my!"
z =  "(from the \"Wizard of OZ\")"

x, y, z = [x, y, z].sort
puts "x = #{x}", "y = #{y}", "z = #{z}"
puts "--"

x =  77444
y =    -12
z =      0

x, y, z = [x, y, z].sort
puts "x = #{x}", "y = #{y}", "z = #{z}"