$h{'11c'} = 'C'; $h{'b'} = 'B'; $h{'e22'} = 'E'; $h{'aaaaa'} = 'AAAA'; for (keys %h){ $a = \$h{$_} and $b = $_ if $a < \$h{$_}; } print "$b\n"; { my $str = "bogus" x 10000; $h{foo} = 'F'; } $h{bar} = 'B'; for (keys %h){ $a = \$h{$_} and $b = $_ if $a < \$h{$_}; } print "$b\n";