print "not ref:\n";
test(dogs=>'bark', cats=>'miaow');

print "ref:\n";
test({dogs=>'bark', cats=>'miaow'});

sub test{
  my $params;                                  
  ref($_[0]) ? $params = shift : $params = {@_};
  print Dumper($params);
}

##</code><code>##

not ref:
$VAR1 = {
          'cats' => 'miaow',
          'dogs' => 'bark'
        };
ref:
Odd number of elements in anonymous hash at params.t line 16.
$VAR1 = {
          'HASH(0x81194e0)' => undef
        };


##</code><code>##

not ref:
hello
$VAR1 = undef;
ref:
$VAR1 = {
          'dogs' => 'bark',
          'cats' => 'miaow'
        };

##</code><code>##

  if(ref($_[0])){
    $params = shift;
  }
  else{
    $params = {@_};
  }

##</code><code>##

not ref:
$VAR1 = {
          'cats' => 'miaow',
          'dogs' => 'bark'
        };
ref:
$VAR1 = {
          'cats' => 'miaow',
          'dogs' => 'bark'
        };