use List::AllUtils qw/ any /; sub is_in_num { my( $num, $list ) = @_; return any { $num == $_ } @$list; } sub is_in_str { my( $str, $list ) = @_; return any { $str eq $_ } @$list; } #### use 5.010; *is_in_num = *is_in_str = sub { my( $str, $list ) = @_; return $str ~~ $list; };