my %hash for my $file (glob("*.*")) { my ($root, $ext) = split /\./, $file; if (defined $hash{root) { $hash{$root} = $ext if $ext > $hash{$root}; } else { $hash{$root} = $ext; } } #### $hash{$root} = $ext if (not defined $hash{$root}) or $ext > $hash{$root};