use strict; my $quote_ref = { phrase => "Foo", author => "Bar", approved => 1, }; set_phrase($quote_ref, "Bee"); print STDOUT get_phrase($quote_ref) . "\n"; print STDOUT get_author($quote_ref) . "\n"; print STDOUT (is_approved($quote_ref) ? "Is approved\n" : "Is not approved\n"); exit 0; sub get_phrase { my $hash_ref = shift; return $hash_ref->{phrase}; } sub set_phrase { my $hash_ref = shift; $hash_ref->{phrase} = shift; } sub get_author { my $hash_ref = shift; return $hash_ref->{author}; } sub set_author { my $hash_ref = shift; $hash_ref->{author} = shift; } sub is_approved { my $hash_ref = shift; return $hash_ref->{approved}; }