my %Dispach_table = ( UNO => \&Process_One, DOS => \&Process_Two, TRES => sub { print "This is an example of an in-line subref\n"}, ); sub Process_One{ #whatever } sub Process_Two{ # Some code } my $var = "DOS"; # Invoke the dispatch (after verifying it exists) $Dispatch_table{ $var } or die "ERROR: attempt to dispatch non-existing entry: '$val'"; $Dispatch_table{ $var } -> ( #Parameters, if any ); # Here is where the routine gets called.