I assume references are a structure containing a counter of refs, and a pointer.

Internally, variables are associated with their own refcounts. This is true of lexicals as well as global (i.e. package) variables. If you have $variable and later assign \$variable to $reference then the refcount associated with $variable increases. The refcount is not associated with $reference. (Unless, of course, there is a reference to the reference floating around somewhere.) A variable's storage is not deallocated until its refcount has gone to zero.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

In reply to Re: Perl Internals - references and symbol table by sauoq
in thread Perl Internals - references and symbol table by nothingmuch

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