That works only because f() itself is so simple, and also because 

my $ref=undef;
$$ref=4711;

[download]
works too. That's why it's not serious, but also probably answers your question more deeply - you don't need a special syntax for anonymous scalar-ref, it gets autovivified when necessary.

In reply to Re^3: Anonymous scalar ref revisited by dk
in thread Anonymous scalar ref revisited by rovf

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