my %hash = ( key1 => 'longstring', key2 => alter('longstring'), ); #### my %hash = ( key1 => 'longstring', key2 => alter($hash{key1}), ); #### my $s = 'longstring'; my %hash = ( key1 => $s, key2 => alter($s), ); #### my %hash = map {$_ => { key1 => 'longstring'.$_.'more', key2 => alter('longstring'.$_.'more') } } @list;