$VAR1 = [ [ 1, 99, 3 ], [ 4, 5, 88 ] ]; the cloneAoA is still the same, but AoA changed! $VAR1 = [ [ 1, 2, 3 ], [ 4, 5, 6 ] ]; -------- now HoH ---------------- $VAR1 = { 'a' => { 'y' => 2, 'x' => 88 }, 'b' => { 'yy' => 99, 'xx' => 3 } }; the clone is still the same, although %HoH changed! $VAR1 = { 'a' => { 'y' => 2, 'x' => 1 }, 'b' => { 'yy' => 4, 'xx' => 3 } }; ========= now HoHoH ============== $VAR1 = { 'y' => { 'bq' => { 'bx' => 6, 'by' => 7 } }, 'x' => { 'ao' => { 'mx' => 1, 'mz' => 3, 'my' => 2 }, 'ap' => { 'ny' => 88, 'nx' => 99 } } }; the %xapClone still has nx => 4 and ny => 5 $VAR1 = { 'ny' => 5, 'nx' => 4 };