Learning Perl Objects, References amp;amp; Modules [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Chapter 3. Introduction to References

A
Perl scalar variable holds a single value. An array holds an ordered
list of one or more scalars. A hash holds a collection of scalars as
values, keyed by other scalars.

Although a scalar can be an arbitrary string, which allows complex
data to be encoded into an array or hash, none of the three data
types are well-suited to complex data interrelationships. This is a
job for the reference. Let's
look at the importance of references by starting with an example.