[@array] can be/usually is written as \@array

Careful. The two are not the same. \@array returns a reference to the existing array. [@array] creates a new (anonymous) copy of the original array and returns a reference to the copy. It's a subtle difference, but an important one.

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

my @arr = (1 .. 5);

my %hash = (
            aref => \@arr,
            copy => [ @arr ],
           );

print "@{$hash{copy}}\n";
print "@{$hash{aref}}\n";

@arr = ('a' .. 'e');

print "@{$hash{copy}}\n"; # original values
print "@{$hash{aref}}\n"; # changed values

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In reply to Re^2: Two arrays into hash by davorg
in thread Two arrays into hash by Anonymous Monk

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