How about grep. A hash is probably best, but if you are stuck with an array, grep is the simplest way to check. 

$x=grep /^c$/,@array_I_just_created_here;

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Assigning the results of grep in a scalar context returns number of matches. $x == 0 means it's not in the array.

HTH

In reply to Re: Checking a string's presence within an array. by pzbagel
in thread Checking a string's presence within an array. by antirice

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