You could use slot 0 of your array to hold the count, and let the names occupy slots 1..n. That would give you a structure like:

my %AG = (
    'OfficeOfDir' => [
        5,   # slot 0 holds count
        { GRADE=>'A', POSITION=>'Quarterback', NAME=>'Unitas, J.' },
        { GRADE=>'B', POSITION=>'Nickleback',  NAME=>'Elephino' },
    ],
    'OfficeOfTech' => [
        2,
        { GRADE=>'B2', POSITION=>'Secretary', NAME=>'BillTheGalacticHe
+ro' },
        { GRADE=>'C5', POSITION=>'Diplomat',  NAME=>'StainlessSteelRat
+'   },
    ],
);

[download]

There are many alternatives, though. You need to come up with something that feels natural to you, and you find easy to work with in your code.

Also, I wasn't kidding when I mentioned:

...roboticus

When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.

In reply to Re^5: Counting Problem by roboticus
in thread Counting Problem by GuiPerl

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