#!/bin/perl -w
use strict;

my %hash;

for my $pair (@ARGV) {
        my ($var, $val)= split /\s*=\s*/, $pair;
        $hash{$var} = $val;
}
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A hash key 'springs' into existance when you try to assign to it.

For more about hashes see perldata, QandASection: hashes and How do I push new data into an existing hash?.

[ar0n]