How to clear a Perl hash

Question

Let's say we define an anonymous hash like this:

my $hash = {}; 

And then use the hash afterwards. Then it's time to empty or clear the hash for reuse. After some Google searching, I found:

%{$hash} = ()  

and:

undef %{$hash} 

Both will serve my needs. What's the difference between the two? Are they both identical ways to empty a hash?

Answer 1

%$hash_ref = (); makes more sense than undef-ing the hash. Undef-ing the hash says that you're done with the hash. Assigning an empty list says you just want an empty hash.