use strict; { # just a block my $test; # the lexical one sub foo { print "In foo: \$test=$test\n"; $test = "Hello world"; print "In foo: \$test=$test\n"; } sub bar { print "In bar \$test=$test\n"; } } my $test; # the global one print "Global \$test=$test\n"; foo(); print "Global \$test=$test\n"; bar(); print "Global \$test=$test\n";