my @codes = qw(61 31 21 1 44 16 21 11 7 9 37 39 33 3 2 1 0 32 51 41 10); my %codes; $codes{$_}++ for @codes; $codes{$_} > 1 ? die "You can't have two of `$_'" : 1 for @codes; #### $>perl -e"@a=qw, 1 23 354 3 3 2 2 3 1134 ,;$a{$_}++ for @a;$a{$_}>1? die 'hey there STUPID '.$_:1 for @a" hey there STUPID 3 at -e line 1.