lanx@nc10-ubuntu:~$ perl -MData::Dumper -e ' %h1=(3 => 1, 5 => 1, 10 => 3 ); %h4=%h3=%h2=reverse %h1; print Dumper \%h2,\%h3,\%h4' $VAR1 = { '1' => '3', '3' => '10' }; $VAR2 = { '3' => '10' }; $VAR3 = { '3' => '10' };