First of all how to pass a hash: 
# Populate a hash.
my %result = some_function(%data);

sub some_function {
  my %passed = @_;
  my %to_return;

  # Do stuff with %passed here and populate %to_return

  return %to_return;
}

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With this you can do things like this: 
my %distribution = degree_distribution();
my %random_distribution_1 = random_distribution();
my %random_distribution_2 = random_distribution();
my %random_distribution_3 = random_distribution();

output(%distribution);
output(%random_distribution_1);
output(%random_distribution_2);
output(%random_distribution_3);

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and so on. (I'm not suggesting that those be actual functions you use, but that gives you an idea.)

Before long I predict that having to repetitively work with 3 random distributions will get very old. That's where you'll want to work with more complex data structures. For that read references quick reference and come back if you have any questions.

In reply to Re^3: Tallying appearance of a unique string from hash keys by tilly
in thread Tallying appearance of a unique string from hash keys by jack_j

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