That's a feature called auto-vivification. Consider the following alternative: 

print "this won't be printed\n" if (scalar @{$test} and scalar @{$test
+}[0]);

[download]

jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)

In reply to Re: Why will referencing an undefined value as array reference create a real array by jeffa
in thread Why will referencing an undefined value as array reference create a real array by mfort

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