Can you think of a way to guarantee that Perl does not unload a class module *before* it deletes the final instance of this class? I have written a Perl object module that contains a database connection class variable (it is a package variable). The class constructor counts each object instance, and creates a database connection only for the first object instance. The destructor disconnects from the database only when Perl deletes the *last* instance. However, when the DESTROY method, on behalf of the final instance, attempts to disconnect from the database, Perl complains that the database reference is no longer defined! By having the END subroutine defined in this module print out a debug message, I learned that Perl unloads the module *before* it deletes the the final object instance. This prematurely deletes the database connection and renders the database package variable undefined. I have avoided this issue by using the END subroutine to disconnect from the database, but it surprises me that Perl would unload a class module before it deletes all instances of a class. Do you agree that this seems like incorrect behaviour?

In reply to Weird perl behavior regarding unloading class modules by Anonymous Monk

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