[odc]

In Perl -> is the dereference operator, similar to C.

So when you see

    $a->[2]{"bar"}

then $a is an array reference where each item is a hashmap. But with

    $a->[2]->{"bar"}

then $a is an array reference where each item is a reference to a hashmap.

[zaucker]

$a->[2]->{"bar"} is the same as $a->[2]{"bar"} or as $a->[2]{bar}