I agree totally with Zaxo here. References are very important, and should be done first, and in a great deal of detail.

This is the order in which I would attempt explaining references:

• Argument passing and returning. Passing a list, and returning a list.
• Passing modifiable variables (pass by reference).
• Passing and returning whole arrays and hashes by reference.
• Anonymous arrays and hashes.
• Multi-dimensional arrays.
• Arrays of hashes, hashes of hashes, hashes of arrays.
• Introduce polymorphism and reflection - the ref function.
• Data::Dumper
• Plenty of exercises on references, then students should be ready for tackling perl objects and classes.

hth

--rW

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