#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; my @array = qw( mango apples grapes mango mango mango mango apples apples banana corn apples ); my %count; $count{$_}++ for @array; ### Output order not important ### print "$_ => $count{$_}\n" for keys %count; ### Output order is important ### my %seen; for (@array) { next if $seen{$_}; print "$_ => $count{$_}\n"; $seen{$_} = 1; }