> From: Peter Ertl [mailto:pertl / gmx.org] 
>
> shorter:
> 
> > h={:c=> 1, :b=> 2, :a => 3}
> > h.keys.sort_by {|s| s.to_s}.map {|key| [key, h[key]] }

Shorter, faster, and (to my mind) clearer:

h.to_a.sort_by {|k,v| k.to_s }

If you're not using symbols for your keys, you can just do:

h.to_a.sort

(I'm guessing that using OrderedHash will have the same problem of
symbols not being comparable in this situation).