While I have been one of the many saints to rail against my $class = ref $proto || $proto;, this is a perfect example of what a hybrid method should be.

1. You are more perfectly emulating DWIM
2. You can explain WHY you're doing it
3. You actually have code that supports both invocation types

++ for an excellent example!

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We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

Don't go borrowing trouble. For programmers, this means Worry only about what you need to implement.