All,

I was reviewing some code from a coworker (no, not my code :-) ), and I found a severe perl error, but the code works fine.
Now, I was wondering, why does it actually work. This is his code reformatted 

$a{test}="very ";
$a{test}{this}="strange";

print $a{test};
print $a{test}{this};

[download]

Which results in "very strange"
First of all, strict does not allow this with the message (note:I always use strict!!)
Can't use string ("very ") as a HASH ref while "strict refs" in use ..
If I rewrite this code, it actually does this: 
$a{test}="very ";
$a{test}->{this}="strange";
 
print $a{test};
print very->{this}; #### ?????

[download]
So "very" is the bareword that is a reference to a hash, but why does it work???
He claims, "it works, so I won't change it".
What even works is 
delete $a{test}

[download]
But I am afrait that this does not clear up memory (is this correct?)
Is this one of the many mysteries of perl?
Please no replies with comments about "use strict" because know about that, I just want to know why the bareword reference works.
---------------------------
Dr. Mark Ceulemans
Senior Consultant
IT Masters, Belgium

In reply to bareword and hash reference by mce

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