#!/usr/bin/perl -- use strict; use warnings; use Data::Dump qw/ dd /; dd( deeef( 'Cobra', 'Fox' ) ); #~ should return #~ ( [qw[ Fox Canine Mammal ]], #~ [qw[ Cobra Snake Reptile ]] #~ ) sub deeef { my( @animals ) = @_; my %catcatdog = ( Mammal => { Bovine => ["Cow", "Bison"], Canine => ["Dog", "Fox", "Wolf"], Equine => ["Horse", "Zebra", "Pony"], }, Reptile => { Bird => ["Pigeon", "Canary", "Owl"], Lizard => ["Salamander", "Chameleon"], Snake => ["Python", "Cobra"], }, ); my %dogcatcat; for my $cat ( keys %catcatdog ){ for my $catcat ( keys %{ $catcatdog{ $cat } } ){ for my $dog( @{ $catcatdog{$cat}{$catcat} } ){ #~ $dogcatcat{$dog}{$cat}{$catcat}++; #~ $dogcatcat{$dog}{$catcat}++; #~ $dogcatcat{$dog}{$cat}++; push @{ $dogcatcat{$dog} }, $catcat, $cat, ; } } } #~ return map {; [ $_, keys %{ $dogcatcat{$_} } ] } @animals; return map {; [ $_, @{ $dogcatcat{$_} } ] } @animals; }