$ perl -MO=Deparse -e 'my $CODE_REF = \"if (\$c == 64) { \$MODE = print \"\\n\"; }" . " else { print chr(\$MODE = \$MODE & 1 ? 32 : 35) x \$c; } ";' my $CODE_REF = 'SCALAR(0xa00038be0) else { print chr($MODE = $MODE & 1 ? 32 : 35) x $c; } '; -e syntax OK