in reply to Re^2: what does main->{x} = 1 do?
in thread what does main->{x} = 1 do?

$_[0]->{$name} and $_[0]{$name} are equivalent. Always, no matter the status of use strict 'refs'. The -> between subscripts is optional. This is in no way related to symbolic references or typeglobs or packages.

If you obtained different results, you must have changed something more.