#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use Benchmark qw(cmpthese); my @x = map join(',', split(//, rand(10000))), 0..80000; my %y; print "Check memory now.", $/; getc(); cmpthese(20, { map => sub { undef %y; %y = map(($_ => undef), @x) } for => sub { undef %y; @y{$_} = undef for @x; }, slice => sub { undef %y; @y{@x} = undef }, }); print scalar %y,$/; __END__ Check memory now. Benchmark: timing 20 iterations of for, map, slice... for: 16 wallclock secs (15.47 usr + 0.27 sys = 15.74 CPU) @ 1.27/s (n=20) map: 28 wallclock secs (26.67 usr + 0.30 sys = 26.97 CPU) @ 0.74/s (n=20) slice: 14 wallclock secs (13.54 usr + 0.24 sys = 13.78 CPU) @ 1.45/s (n=20) Rate map for slice map 0.742/s -- -42% -49% for 1.27/s 71% -- -12% slice 1.45/s 96% 14% -- 59853