Basic debugging checklist says  use strict; use warnings; especially if you want to cut your development time in half!

It will point you at problems with your code, like this 

#!/usr/bin/perl --
use diagnostics;
use strict; use warnings;
use Data::Dump;

my %sampleHash = ();
my @array1 = ('a','b','c');
my @array2 = ("x","y","z","s");
$sampleHash{"hash1"} = @array1;
$sampleHash{"hash2"} = @array2;

dd \%sampleHash;

print $sampleHash{"hash1"}[0];
__END__
$ perl fudge
{ hash1 => 3, hash2 => 4 }
Can't use string ("3") as an ARRAY ref while "strict refs" in use at f
+udge line
        14 (#1)
    (F) Only hard references are allowed by "strict refs".  Symbolic
    references are disallowed.  See perlref.

Uncaught exception from user code:
        Can't use string ("3") as an ARRAY ref while "strict refs" in 
+use at fudge line 14.

[download]

@array in scalar context returns its size , perlintro, Tutorials: Context tutorial

To store an array in a scalar, to store an array in a hash, you have to use the reference operator, reference-of operator, see perlreftut#Making References , references quick reference

In reply to Re: Trouble accessing Hash of Arrays (troubleshooting basics) by Anonymous Monk
in thread Trouble accessing Hash of Arrays by sujeet97

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