++ to Corion and broquaint but just TMTOWTDI mode Inline::C: 

#!/usr/bin/perl

use Inline C;
use strict;

my $foo = "bar";
my $bar = [qw(foo bar baz)];
my $baz = {foo => "bar", baz => "quux"};
my $x = [
  {foo => "bar", baz => "quux"},
  {foo => "bar", baz => "quux"},
  {foo => "bar", baz => "quux"},
];

my $y = {
  foo => ["bar","quux"],
  baz => ["quux","bar"],
};

print q("foo" -> ), describe("foo"), "\n";
print q(\\$foo -> ), describe(\$foo), "\n";
print q($bar -> ), describe($bar), "\n";
print q(\\$bar -> ), describe(\$bar), "\n";
print q($baz -> ), describe($baz), "\n";
print q(\\$baz -> ), describe(\$baz), "\n";
print q($x -> ), describe($x), "\n";
print q(\\$x -> ), describe(\$x), "\n";
print q($y -> ), describe($y), "\n";
print q(\\$y -> ), describe(\$y), "\n";
__END__
__C__

SV* describe( SV *var )
{
   SV *tmp;
   if( ! SvROK( var ) ) {
      return( newSVpvf( "%s", "S" ) );
   } else {
      switch( SvTYPE( SvRV(var) ) ) {
         case SVt_PVAV:
            tmp = describe( av_pop( (AV *)SvRV(var) ) );
            return( newSVpvf( "Ao%s", SvPV( tmp, PL_na ) ) );
         case SVt_PVHV:
            tmp = describe( hv_iterval( (HV *)SvRV(var),
                    hv_iternext( (HV *)SvRV(var) ) ) );
            return( newSVpvf( "Ho%s", SvPV( tmp, PL_na ) ) );
         case SVt_PVCV:
            return( newSVpvf( "%s", "C" ) );
         case SVt_PVGV:
            return( newSVpvf( "%s", "G" ) );
         case SVt_PVMG:
            return( newSVpvf( "%s", "B" ) );
         case SVt_RV:
            tmp = describe( SvRV(var) );
            return( newSVpvf( "r%s", SvPV( tmp, PL_na ) ) );
         case SVt_IV:
         case SVt_NV:
         case SVt_PV:
            return( newSVpvf( "%s", "oS" ) );
         default:
            return( newSVpvf( "?" ) );
      }
   }
}

[download]

-derby

In reply to Re: Checking whether two variables have the same structure by derby
in thread Checking whether two variables have the same structure by Corion

Title:
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!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.