How can I verify that a value is present in an array (list) in Perl?

Question

I have a list of possible values:

@a = qw(foo bar baz);

How do I check in a concise way that a value $val is present or absent

Answer 1

If you don't like unnecessary dependency, implement any or first yourself

sub first (&@) {
  my $code = shift;
  $code->() and return $_ foreach @_;
  undef
}

sub any (&@) {
  my $code = shift;
  $code->() and return 1 foreach @_;
  undef
}