First of all let me say that I think this is a bad idea, but I was asked the question and I'm now curious to know the answer.

If I have a set of variables $a, $b, $c…etc

If a different variable – call it $want - contains the value 'a' I want to return the contents of $a, if it contains 'b' I want to return the contents of $b etc.

I know better ways to structure this e.g. with hashes, but I am curious as to how to get a value of a scalar specified by a second scalar. the best I've done so far is: 

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

my $client = "Yes";

my $want = "client";
print *{$want},"\n";

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Any ideas?

In reply to Value of a scalar specified by a second scalar by bangers

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