use Data::Dumper; my %hash = ( this => "one", that => "two", ); print Dumper(\%hash); #### $VAR1 = { 'that' => 'two', 'this' => 'one' }; #### use Data::Dumper::Simple; my %hash = ( this => "one", that => "two", ); print Dumper(%hash); #### %hash = ( 'that' => 'two', 'this' => 'one' );