Pseudohashes

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Pseudo-Hashes

This idea was developed over the next few years

Big problem: This cannot be translated at compile time

        $self->{$key}

Solution: $self will be an arrayref that pretends to be a hashref

A “pseudo-hash”

It will carry around a hash that maps keys to values:

        [ { NAME => 1, TYPE => 2, size => 3, ... },
          "Fenchurch",
          "Octopus", "Small", 3, undef, ... ]

You are now allowed to use an arrayref as if it were a hashref

This was formerly an error:

        $array_ref->{$key}

Now it is an abbreviation for this:

        $array_ref->[$array_ref->[0]->{$key}]

continued...

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