This is best done using a hash instead of an array. But if you only have an array to begin with, it's easy to convert.
(Warning, untested code below)

# assume your array is still in myarray; set up a hash
foreach (@myarray) {
    $myhash{$_} = 1;
}

# now, test for the existence of 'blah'

if ($myhash{'blah'}) {
  do_something();
}

[download]
If you use a hash instead of an array everywhere, you can also save the one-time overhead of setting up the hash in the first place. Using a hash makes the test closer to unit time than linear, which can speed things up significantly if you have a lot of array elements, or if you're doing a lot of "in"-like tests.

Alan

In reply to Re: in function? by ferrency
in thread in function? by Anonymous Monk

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