use strict;
use Data::Dumper;

#fill an array with content of __DATA__
my @data;
while (<DATA>) {
  chomp;
  push @data, $_
}

#ugliest way - use regex & matches - shudder!
print "Ugliest Way:\n";
foreach my $line (@data) {
  $line =~ /^(\d+)\+(\d+)\s(\w+)\s(\w+)/;
  my $first = $1;
  my $second = $2;
  my $third = $3;
  my $fourth = $4;
  print "$first:$second:$third:$fourth\n";
}


#slightly less ugly way - exploit list context
print "\nSlightly Less Ugly Way:\n";
foreach my $line (@data) {
  my ($first, $second, $third, $fourth) =
    $line =~ /^(\d+)\+(\d+)\s(\w+)\s(\w+)/;
  print "$first:$second:$third:$fourth\n";
}

#decent way - use split instead of regex
print "\nDecent way:\n";
foreach my $line (@data) {
  my ($first, $second, $third, $fourth) = split (/\+| /, $line);
  print "$first:$second:$third:$fourth\n";
}

#okay way - load values into a hash for later use
#assuming the first element is the one on which lookups will
#occur most frequently.  Hashes are great for finding keys quickly.
print "\nOkay Way:\n";
my %hash1;
foreach my $line (@data) {
  my ($first, $second, $third, $fourth) = split (/\+| /, $line);
  $hash1{$first}{SECOND} = $second;
  $hash1{$first}{THIRD} = $third;
  $hash1{$first}{FOURTH} = $fourth;
}
print Dumper(%hash1);

#equally okay way - load values into two-dim array
print "\nEqually Okay Way:\n";
my @array;
foreach my $line (@data) {
  #square brackets give you a ref to the array produced
  #by the split
  push @array, [split (/\+| /, $line)];
}
print Dumper(@array);

1;

__DATA__
8294750274534+4821 kudu AUG
3249230958867+9462 firkt BOD
482048348344+8467 kwirk NAR
3242359960+5487 mana GOW
3948585747757+48 ala SAN
348838482348+6487 kudu AEG
4234985745534+82 pira AEG