my $varname = "Foo::Bar::my_var"; { no strict 'refs'; my @array = @{ $varname } = (1,2,3); my %hash = %{ $varname } = (1 => 2); my $scalar = ${ $varname } = "Hello World"; } use Data::Dumper; eval <<'EOF'; print Dumper \@Foo::Bar::my_var; print Dumper \%Foo::Bar::my_var; print Dumper \$Foo::Bar::my_var; EOF