#! perl

use Data::Dumper;
use JSON::XS;

my $asset = {
        ## rename this var to something else to test the 'undefined' case
        related_files => '{
     "firstName": "John",
     "lastName" : "Smith",
     "age"      : 25,
     "address"  :
     {
         "streetAddress": "21 2nd Street",
         "city"         : "New York",
         "state"        : "NY",
         "postalCode"   : "10021"
     },
     "phoneNumber":
     [
         {
           "type"  : "home",
           "number": "212 555-1234"
         },
         {
           "type"  : "fax",
           "number": "646 555-4567"
         }
     ]
 }'
};



my $ref;
if($asset->{related_files}){
 $ref = decode_json($asset->{related_files});
}else{
 $ref = [];
}

print Dumper($ref);

## simpler shorthand-code doesn't work, why?
my $ref = $asset->{related_files} ? decode_json($asset->{related_files}) : [];

print Dumper($ref);