Perl 6 still has references -- you can still take an explicit reference like \@array. However, Perl 6 will automatically take a reference or dereference a reference depending on context. Here are a few examples of Perl 6 with the Perl 5 in the comment. 

my %x = ( a => 1 );   # same
my $y = %x;           # $y = \%x
%x{a} = 1;            # $x{a} = 1
$y{a} = 1;            # $y->{a} = 1

[download]
This can surprise a Perl 5 veteran because the code $length = @array won't work the same anymore. (This is a good thing for beginning Perl 6 programmers though!)

However, Perl 6 has more contexts than Perl 5 -- numeric and boolean contexts -- so some Perl 5 idioms still work. For example, if (@array) ... still works because the 'if' uses boolean context. $length = @array + 0 works because '+' uses numeric context.

Of course, arrays are now objects, so the simplest way to get the length of an array is @array.length.

For more information about variables in Perl 6 check out Apocalypse 2.

In reply to Perl6: same great references, new improved syntax by blssu
in thread Perl6 - value vs. reference issues by John M. Dlugosz

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.