My guess is: 

my $string = "1:1,2:1,3:2,500:2,505:1"; 
my %hash = $string=~/([-.\w]*):([-.\w]*),/g; 
my @array = $string=~/([-.\w]*):/g; 
use Data::Dumper; print Dumper \@array, \%hash;

[download]

Update: that's wrong of course. Here's the corrected one: 

my $string = "1:1,2:1,3:2,500:2,505:1"; 
my %hash = $string=~/([-.\w]*):([-.\w]*)/g; 
@array = $string=~/([-.\w]*):/g; 
use Data::Dumper; print Dumper \@array, \%hash;

[download]
Sorry.

In reply to Re: better way to convert a string into an array and an hash by ambrus
in thread better way to convert a string into an array and an hash by Miguel

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