They don't really mention it because it's a bad idea. In your case you want an array @var; in the more general class you'd use a hash. See perldoc perlref for discussion about symbolic references.

Update: See also Program Repair Shop and Red Flags (and while not directly relevant there's another two Red Flag articles here and here that are well worth checking out).

In reply to Re: construct variable name on the fly by Fletch
in thread construct variable name on the fly by aquarium

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