Setting name of array in Perl

Question

I would like to create an array in Perl that will have for name the values of two variables and, one of the two variables will have a value that is read from a file.

In the simplified case, how can I create an array with name CCP when P and CC are two separate variables?

So far I have joined the two using:

my $body='CC';
my $letter='P';
my $joined=$body . "$venue";

but I would like to actually create an array with name @CCP. The idea is that I will read different letters from a data file and then create the arrays that will have names given by joining 'CC' to the letters read from file.

This is a bad code smell, and an indication that you want a hash. — , Jan 31 '15 at 00:01
Thanks: I think I will re-write my code so to use a hash instead! — g_puffo, Jan 31 '15 at 17:19

Borodin · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-30T23:58:04.893

9

You really don't want to do that. How will you know what the array is called when you need to access it?

Use a hash, like this

my %data;

my $body   = 'CC';
my $letter = 'P';

$data{"$body$letter"} = [];

edited Jan 30 '15 at 23:58

answered Jan 30 '15 at 23:50

Borodin

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Do you mean `my %data` or am I missing something? – g_puffo Jan 30 '15 at 23:54
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You're right. I was torn between using a hash or a hash reference, and ended up using both. Thanks! – Borodin Jan 30 '15 at 23:59
I felt like a pro-Perl user when I noticed it... lol... I haven't thought about it but a hash might be better for what I need! – g_puffo Jan 31 '15 at 00:01

Setting name of array in Perl

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