use strict ; use warnings ; use Data::Dumper ; my %h = ( a => 1, b => [ 1, 2, 3], ) ; print Dumper(%h) ; #### $VAR1 = 'b'; $VAR2 = [ 1, 2, 3 ]; $VAR3 = 'a'; $VAR4 = 1; #### use strict ; use warnings ; use Data::Dumper ; my %h = ( a => 1, b => [ 1, 2, 3], ) ; print Dumper(\%h) ; # Note the additional \ #### $VAR1 = { 'b' => [ 1, 2, 3 ], 'a' => 1 };