use 5.010; { my $x; sub X { say "X"; $x = shift; \$x; } sub Y { say "Y"; $x = shift; \$x; } } printf "%s%s\n",${X(1)},${Y(2)}; printf "%s %s\n",${X(1)},${Y(2)}; print ${X(1)}." ".${Y(2)}; # updated