Adding to and deleting from an associative array 

• Like list arrays, associative arrays can be modified internally. The most common function, other than defining an associative array, is adding to it. Adding to an associative array simply involves telling Perl which key and value to add using the format: 

$ARRAY_NAME{'key'} = "value"; 

• or, using our example above: 

$CLIENT_ARRAY{'favorite_candy'} = "Hershey's with Almonds"; 

• %CLIENT_ARRAY now includes full_name, phone, age and favorite_candy along with their associated values. 
• Similarly, you can easily use the delete function to delete a key/value pair in an associative array. The delete function follows the syntax: 

delete ($ASSOCIATIVE_ARRAY_NAME{'key'}); 

• or for our %CLIENT_ARRAY example: 

delete ($CLIENT_ARRAY{'age'}); 

• Thus, %CLIENT_ARRAY would contain only full_name, phone, and favorite_candy. 

Additional Resources:

• Perl 
• Perl Resources 

Using the keys and values functions
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Manipulating Strings in Perl