I whole heartedly agree, but that code was taken verbatim from the Perl Cookbook, so it's easy to see how someone with little to no experience using references could be confused by that code. About the time you get a handle on \@, somebody throws @{...} at you? Ack!
Also, I understand that the book's just full of examples, but shouldn't they at least make an effort to at least pass strict?

Guildenstern
Negaterd character class uber alles!