I see your code as similar to rewriting:

if(  something  ) {
    do_this();
} else {
    do_that();
}
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I just don't see any point to you using stringy eval here. I only use stringy eval as a last resort. Reaching for that tool too quickly is a common mistake when learning Perl so most experienced Perl programmers discourage it. It is easy to use stringy eval incorrectly.

Ok ... so what I was missing was the {}.

Huh? I didn't add any braces. The main difference between your use of eval and mine was that you expanded the value of $_[0] (by using double quote) while I passed eval the literal string '$_[0]'. I left the {} out of the non-eval code since I was using $ref and not $_[0] so the braces aren't needed.

That would fail if you put use strict 'refs' in the eval, right?

No, my code was using hard reference (not symbolic references) and so use strict 'refs' wouldn't have a problem with it (except, perhaps, for the GLOB dereferencing; I don't use GLOBs as references so I don't track the details of doing that). Your code would only work if $_[0] contained a variable name, causing the eval to use symbolic references.

That would fail if you put use strict 'refs' in the eval, right?

The eval should inherit use strict 'refs'; from the parent. The problem is that you wouldn't notice it failing unless you checked $@.

Now, I'm curious as to why you keep saying that string eval is a waste.

String eval is usually a waste when you can do without because string eval requires: that the code be compiled each time (a signifigant amount of time, probably), and that you be careful to not make mistakes like having variables expanded before the eval like you did. The first problem is the most signifigant. When you have to parse some perl code, rather then just run the appropriate if or item from a dispatch table it's usually much slower, something you'll notice especially when it's done a lot. Therefore when there are ways to do without it's (usually) best to take them. In fact avoiding evals of strings is probably the reason symrefs where included in the first place.