You could tie a hash just as you described. This will give your structure a hash-like interface, which is either a pro or a con.

Another way would be to use Dominus' excellent Memoize module. I wrote a review of the module: read the review of the Memoize module. Using it could be as simple as writing a function get_data_structure_from_database, saying memoize 'get_data_structure_from_database', and continuing to use that function!

In reply to Re: Using tie to initialize large datastructures by ariels
in thread Using tie to initialize large datastructures by htoug

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