use Data::Dumper; $Data::Dumper::Sortkeys=1; print Dumper(\%third); #### $VAR1 = { 'AC' => 0, 'AT' => 0, 'C' => 4, 'TC' => 0 }; #### $third{ substr($tri,0,1) . substr($tri,2,1) }++; # Line 15