You can use split to split the path up on the slashes, like so: 
my @values = split m:/:, $path_string;

[download]
It's not at all clear why you'd be putting that into a hash as you illustrate. It would be more interesting to make a multilevel hash that mimics the hierarchy of a list of paths: 
my $hashed_path = {};
for my $path_string (@list_of_paths) {
  my $hpref = $hashed_path;
  for $dir (split m:/:, $path_string) {
    $hpref->{$dir} = {} unless exists $hpref->{$dir};
    $hpref = $hpref->{$dir};
  }
}

[download]
That might be a bit much to absorb so early in your Perl experience, but maybe not.
Caution: Contents may have been coded under pressure.

In reply to Re^3: Dynamic population of a hash by Roy Johnson
in thread Dynamic population of a hash by JFarr

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