#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; my $TEST_KEY = 'abc'; my $TEST_VAL = 5; my %TestHash = (); { print "-----[ Addition to undef ]---------------\n"; %TestHash = (); $TestHash{$TEST_KEY} += $TEST_VAL; print "-----[ Addition testing for undef ]------\n"; %TestHash = (); if (defined $TestHash{$TEST_KEY}) { $TestHash{$TEST_KEY} += $TEST_VAL; } else { $TestHash{$TEST_KEY} = $TEST_VAL; } } exit; __END__ C:\Steve\Dev\PerlMonks\P-2013-10-13@2339-HashUndef>hashtest.pl -----[ Addition to undef ]--------------- -----[ Addition testing for undef ]------