for my $elem ( @$mysql ) { my $field1 = $elem->{field}; } #### for my $idx ( 0..@$mysql ) { my $field1 = $mysql->[$idx]{field1}; } #### use 5.010; $tag = 'Homer'; my %h = ( $tag => 'woohoo!', Fred => 'YABA DABA DOO!' ); say Dumper(\%h); # outputs: # $VAR1 = { # 'Homer' => 'woohoo!', # 'Fred' => 'YABA DABA DOO!' # };