Looking into Symbol, that is apparently deliberate:

my $genpkg = "Symbol::";
my $genseq = 0;

sub gensym () {
    my $name = "GEN" . $genseq++;

    ## Instantiate the glob and take a reference to it.
    my $ref = \*{$genpkg . $name}; 

    ## Delete the name, leaving a reference to an anonymous glob
    delete $$genpkg{$name};        

    ## return the ref
    $ref;
}

[download]

Thus, it effectively mirrors the behaviour [] and {} in that you have a reference to a structure that doesn't (no longer) appears in the pad (symbol table).

The few times I've wanted an anonymous glob I've used:

$r = do{ \local *FRED };;
print $r;;
GLOB(0x4055f70)

[download]
Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

In reply to Re^5: symbol/glob hash explanation by BrowserUk
in thread symbol/glob hash explanation by rwstauner

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