Q:\>perl -le "@l=qw(a b c);$b=3;do{local @::{@l};$b=2;print $b};print $b 2 2 Q:\>perl -v This is perl, v5.8.8 built for MSWin32-x86-multi-thread (with 50 registered patches, see perl -V for more detail) Copyright 1987-2006, Larry Wall Binary build 820 [274739] provided by ActiveState http://www.ActiveState.com Built Jan 23 2007 15:57:46 Perl may be copied only under the terms of either the Artistic License or the GNU General Public License, which may be found in the Perl 5 source kit. Complete documentation for Perl, including FAQ lists, should be found on this system using "man perl" or "perldoc perl". If you have access to the Internet, point your browser at http://www.perl.org/, the Perl Home Page.