I have really come to enjoy the ideas and syntax offered by the
P5EE Style Guide.
In the guide, they offer this for plural vs singular variable naming conventions:
---
Arrays and hashes should be plural nouns, whether as
regular arrays and hashes or array and hash references. Do
not name references with ``ref'' or the data type in the
name.
@stories = (1, 2, 3); # right
$comment_ref = [4, 5, 6]; # wrong
$comments = [4, 5, 6]; # right
$comment = $comments->[0]; # right
---
By consistantly using a system like this throughout your programs, there won't have to be question about whether a scalar contains something like a string, or if it's a reference to an array or hash. As the guide suggests, references would be named in a plural fashion.
FWIW, I'm now using (or at least attempting to) this guide for all of my programming habits :-) Have fun,
-Eric