sub mysub { tie my $tied, 'MyClass'; return $tied; # Calls FETCH and returns } # the fetched value. my $not_tied = mysub(); #### tie my $tied, 'MyClass'; my $not_tied = $tied; # Calls FETCH and assigns # the fetched value. #### sub mysub { tie my $tied, 'MyClass'; return \$tied; # Returns a ref to the tied var. my $ref_to_tied1 = mysub(); my $ref_to_tied2 = $ref_to_tied; print($$ref_to_tied1, "\n"); # Calls $tied's FETCH. print($$ref_to_tied2, "\n"); # Calls $tied's FETCH.