Notes:

• A hash is useful for multiple look-ups, since you have to realize that the CREATION of the hash is going to require a look at the entire array.
• grep is going to go through your entire array, and "jumping" out of grep isn't a "nice" thing to do.

That said, I would take an approach like:

# prototype here for "look and feel good"ness
# if you remove it, be sure to pass array by
# reference (this is done for speed reasons)

# $index = get_index @array, $element;

sub get_index (\@$) {
  my ($a, $e) = @_;
  my $i = 0;
  for (@$a) { return $i if $e eq $_; $i++; }
  return -1;
}
[download]

There's no reason to get more idiomatic, because it will cloud the meaning of your code. The most simple things should be coded simply.

japhy -- Perl and Regex Hacker

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