Might want to try perlreftut because those are actually hash references :)

But here's a quick synopsis that (hopefully) helps (note that this is not complete): 
Prepending:

$ - a single item (scalar)
@ - multiple items (array)
% - hash

Accessors:
-> - dereference
[] - array subscript
{} - hash key

[download]
If you work to combine those, then you should be able to access anything wrt hashes/arrays/keys.

e.g. - $var1->{$var2}->[$var3]
would return one element (the prepended $)
from var1
which is a reference (->)
to a hash ( {}'s )
with a key $var2
whose value is a reference (->)
to an array ([]'s)
with an index $var3

I hope that is more helpful than confusing :) The perldocs are much more complete.

This is a rudimentary example, not intended to be 100% complete (fileglobs, lists, etc.) so please don't jump all over it (this addressed to the monastery at large :) )
--------------
"But what of all those sweet words you spoke in private?"
"Oh that's just what we call pillow talk, baby, that's all."

In reply to Re: Confused about accessing hashes by RazorbladeBidet
in thread Confused about accessing hashes by ear

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.