As you know the -> operator is often used with hash references: $value = $hash_ref->{'key'}; However, not every use of -> involves a hash reference.

The use you're asking about is: Module->import(LIST); This snippet is actually very different from &{$Module{import}}(LIST). What you've got here is a method call.

A method call is basically a subroutine call, except for two important differences; a method call respects inheritance, and the method call automatically places the package name or object reference at the beginning of @_.

Module->import(LIST);             # method call
import Module (LIST);             # alternate method call 
&Module::import('Module', LIST);  # plain old subroutine call, no inhe
+ritance
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Module is the name of a package, and import is a subroutine defined in that package or inherited from another package.

You can find out more about method calls in perlmod and perlmodlib, as well as Exporter, which provides a standard import method.