: Second, is there even a practical solution?

yes, quite a few:

%a = ( '09' => 'a' );
%a = ( '09', 'a' );
%a = qw( 09 a );
$key = '09'; $value = 'a'; %a = ( $key => $value );

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In reply to Re: Use of the => operator by ikegami
in thread Use of the => operator by roju

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