my @ar = qw/ foo bar baz /; my %hash = ( one => @ar ); print $hash{one}; __output__ foo #### my @ar = qw/ foo bar baz /; my %hash = ( one => \@ar ); print @{ $hash{one} }; __output__ foobarbaz #### use Array::Compare; my %hash = ( one => [ qw/ foo bar baz / ], two => [ qw/ baz foo bar / ], ); print "the same" if Array::Compare->new()->perm(@hash{qw/one two/}); __output__ the same #### use Test::More; ## assuming data in above example print "the same" if eq_array([sort @{ $hash{one} }], [sort @{ $hash{two} } ]); __output__ the same