# yam1.pl
use strict;
use warnings;

use YAML;

my $config = {
  NAME => 'John Doe',
  ADDRESS => '123 Main St.',
  PHONE => {
    'Home' => '123-4444',
    'Work' => '123-5555',
  },
  CONTACTS => [
    'John',
    'Paul',
    'George',
  ],
};

print Dump( $config ), "\n";

##</code><code>##

---
ADDRESS: 123 Main St.
CONTACTS:
  - John
  - Paul
  - George
NAME: John Doe
PHONE:
  Home: 123-4444
  Work: 123-5555


##</code><code>##

# yam2.pl -- does NOT work!
use strict;
use warnings;

use YAML;
use Data::Dumper;

# load YAML file into perl hash ref?
my $config = Load("config.yml");
print Dumper($config), "\n";

##</code><code>##

# yam3.pl - Works! Yippie!
use strict;
use warnings;

use YAML;
use Data::Dumper;

# step 1: open file
open my $fh, '<', 'config.yml' 
  or die "can't open config file: $!";

# step 2: slurp file contents
my $yml = do { local $/; <$fh> };

# step 3: convert YAML 'stream' to perl hash ref
my $config = Load($yml);
print Dumper($config), "\n";


##</code><code>##

# yam4.pl - Works also! Yippie!
use strict;
use warnings;

use YAML;
use Data::Dumper;

# step 1: open file
open my $fh, '<', 'config.yml' 
  or die "can't open config file: $!";

# step 2: convert YAML file to perl hash ref
my $config = LoadFile($fh);
print Dumper($config), "\n";