cdarke's humble opinion is correct, the package variables should stay where they are and be accessed through getters and setters, if these are available, use them, if not, well be careful. $instance_of_package->set_named_variable("new_value"); is more readable I believe and for "class" variables Package::Name->set_class_variable("new Global"); is more legible to me than direct assignment, provided the accessors are half-way sensibly named.