O'Reilly "Programming Perl" (with camel) => 12.3.1. Method Invocation Using the Arrow Operator:

...
Sometimes you want to invoke a method without knowing its name ahead of time. You can use the arrow form of method invocation and replace the method name with a simple scalar variable:

  $method = "summon";
  $mage = Wizard->$method("Gandalf");  # Invoke Wizard->summon

  $travel = $companion eq "Shadowfax" ? "ride" : "walk";
  $mage->$travel("seven leagues");     # Invoke $mage->ride or $mage->
+walk

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Although you're using the name of the method to invoke it indirectly, this usage is not forbidden by use strict 'refs', since all method calls are in fact looked up symbolically at the time they're resolved.
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as a result the term may be "symbolic method invocation"

In reply to Re: Is this a symbolic reference? by bdimych
in thread Is this a symbolic reference? by demerphq

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