http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=469308


in reply to Fast seeking in a large array of hashes to generate a report.

Why would you store all your records in a hash and then drop all you don't need? Wouldn't it be faster to query the database based on the match-requirements? That saves you the trouble of walking through the array.

If the database queries aren't an option, to could look for a unique key and transform the array into a hash, based on that key. That can save you a lot of time.
HTH

Paul