Useless use of private variable in void context at appendhashref.pl line 18. Before $VAR1 = { 'two' => 'second', 'one' => 'first' }; After $VAR1 = { 'four' => 'forth', 'three' => 'third' }; Use of uninitialized value in string eq at appendhashref.pl line 21. not ok 1 - one # Failed test 'one' # at appendhashref.pl line 21. Use of uninitialized value in string eq at appendhashref.pl line 22. not ok 2 - two # Failed test 'two' # at appendhashref.pl line 22. ok 3 - three ok 4 - four 1..4 # Looks like you failed 2 tests of 4.