Yes, as other "Anonymous Monks" have said – a feature. Because, if you are legitimately trying to use something like $hash{'www'}{'xxx'}{'yyy'}{'zzz'}, it is "hugely convenient" that Perl will automagically create $hash{'www'} then $hash{'www'}{'xxx'} then $hash{'www'}{'xxx'}{'yyy'}, and maybe even $hash{'www'}{'xxx'}{'yyy'}{'zzz'}, all without asking. This very simple trick bypasses a lot of tedium and is "usually" beneficial. Just not in your case!

In reply to Re^2: "print" of nonexistent element is actually altering a hash by Anonymous Monk
in thread "print" of nonexistent element is actually altering a hash by larrymenard

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