# prototype here for "look and feel good"ness
# if you remove it, be sure to pass array by
# reference (this is done for speed reasons)

# $index = get_index @array, $element;

sub get_index (\@$) {
  my ($a, $e) = @_;
  my $i = 0;
  for (@$a) { return $i if $e eq $_; $i++; }
  return -1;
}