use JSON::Path;
$json = q( { "array": [ 1, 2, 3], "string": "string_value", "object": { "obj1": "val1", "obj2": "val2" } } );
$arr_path = JSON::Path->new( q($.array) );
$scal_path = JSON::Path->new( q($.string) );
$value = $arr_path->value();

if ( ! ( defined ref $value ) )

{ print "SCALAR\n" }

elsif ( ref $value eq q(ARRAY) ) { print "ARRAY\n" }

else { print "NEITHER" }