You _can_ typecast, however, like so (array to hash key value pairs)

use Data::Dumper;
use warnings;
use strict;

open FOO, "test_data.txt" or die $!;
my @A;

while(<FOO>){
  chomp;
  push @A, split /\s*=\s*/, $_, 2
}

my %H = @A;

print Dumper(\%H);
[download]

Included a maximum of 2 elements in the split, as suggested by An.Monk.

You can, and it's a good thing to know sometimes, but in this case it'll cause strange things to happen if there's more than one = on a line. Your original suggestion was better, perhaps with the enhancement of giving the split a limit, e.g. split /\s*=\s*/, $_, 2.

push/pop and shift/unshift are for arrays only, not hashes.

<data>
uno = uno
due = dos
tre = tres
quattro = quatro
cinque = cinco
<\data>

<data2>
 uno => tree
due => dos
tre => tres
quattro => cinco
cinque => cinco
sei => seis
<\data2>
[download]

use strict;
use warnings;

use Data::Dump qw(dump);
use Storable; #don't know what this does yet.

my %hash;

open my $in, '<',"./test_data.txt" or die ("can't open the file:$!\n")
+;
 
while (<$in>){
    chomp;
    my ($key, $value)= split (/\s*=\s/);
    $hash{$key}=$value;
    }
close $in;

## <new code>

open my $in2,'<',"./test_data2.txt" or die ("can't open file : $!\n");
open my $out ,'>' ,"./test_data_out.txt" or die "can't open the file f
+or write:$1\n";

while (<$in2>){
   chomp;
   my ($key,$value) = split (/\s*=\s/); #splits row into 2 col
   
 #will check if new key,value matches then print to another file for f
+un.
   if exists $hash{$keys}{
       dump \$out;  
       }
    
    }
[download]

... <data>...<\data> ... <data2>...<\data2> ... <code>...<\code> ...

Maybe you didn't notice it but
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post; it's PerlMonks-approved HTML":


Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!

I apologize for not getting the format correct. I'm working/learning how to communicate here. also, how to update a follow up question? I tried but I am Unable. thanks!

hopefully, I formatted this correctly. stuck while reading in the second keys and values of 2nd file and checking against the existing hash key and value can you help debug this piece?

 
uno = uno 
due = dos 
tre = tres 
quattro = quatro 
cinque = cinco
[download]

 
uno = tree 
due = dos 
tre = tres 
quattro = cinco 
cinque = cinco 
sei = seis
[download]

 
use strict; 
use warnings; 

use Data::Dump qw(dump); 
use Storable; #don't know how to use this to test yet. 

my %hash; open my $in, '<',"./test_data.txt" or die "can't open the fi
+le:$!\n"; 

while (<$in>){ 
  chomp; 
  my ($key, $value)= split (/\s*=\s/); 
  $hash{$key}=$value;  #it's clear to me now
  } 
close $in; 

#will check against %hash with new keys and values  

#opening files for read and write
open my $in2,'<',"./test_data2.txt" or die "can't open file : $!\n"; 
open my $out ,'>' ,"./test_data_out.txt" or die "can't open the file f
+or write:$!\n"; 

while (<$in2>){ 
  chomp; 
  my ($key,$value) = split (/\s*=\s/); #splits row into 2 col  
  if exists $hash{$keys}{ 
      dump $out \%hash; 
   } 
}
[download]

my ($key,$value) = split (/\s*=\s/);
if exists $hash{$keys}{
   dump $out \%hash;
}


Are you using use strict; use warnings; ? That would immediately tell you you are using a variable that has not been declared previously.
Please use that from now on...