The '=>' separates the hash key from the hash value. It is a more visual appealing replacement then the ',' which also can be used for this purpose
Code:
%shell = (
Theo => '/bin/sh',
Linus => '/bin/bash' ) ;
print "\nTheo's shell : $shell{'Theo'} " ;
print "\nLinus' shell : $shell{'Linus'} " ;
$ perl hash-shell
Theo's shell : /bin/sh
Linus' shell : /bin/bash
Another example but now using a comma
Code:
%os = (
'Theo', 'OpenBSD',
'Linus', 'Linux'
);
print "\nTheo's OS : $os{'Theo'} " ;
print "\nLinus' OS : $os{'Linus'} " ;
$perl hash-os
Theo's OS : OpenBSD
Linus' OS : Linux