#!/usr/bin/env perl -l

use strict;
use warnings;

my %data = (
    A => { C => { D => 4, E => [ 22, 33 ], }, },
    B => { C => { D => [ 44, 55 ], E => 5, }, },
);

my $get_value_code = sub { $_[0] };
my $is_ref_code = sub { ref $_[0] };

my @paths = ([qw{A C D}], [qw{A C E}], [qw{B C D}], [qw{B C E}], []);

for (@paths) {
    if (generic_hash_logic(\%data, $_, $is_ref_code)) {
        print "Path [@$_] is a reference: not printed.";
    }
    else {
        print "Path [@$_] is a value: ", 
            generic_hash_logic(\%data, $_, $get_value_code);
    }
}

sub generic_hash_logic {
    my ($hash, $path, $code) = @_;

    my $end = $hash;

    $end = $end->{$_} for @$path;

    $code->($end);
}

##</code><code>##

Path [A C D] is a value: 4
Path [A C E] is a reference: not printed.
Path [B C D] is a reference: not printed.
Path [B C E] is a value: 5
Path [] is a reference: not printed.