# or:  my $ref = "str$_";  # this is a purely symbolic reference, access is the same as above

##</code><code>##

my $class = 'CGI';
my $version;
{
    no strict 'refs';
    $version = ${"${class}::VERSION"};
    use strict;
}
print $version # e.g. 3.05 on my machine