I don't see it as a *simple* spoiler, as people quite often try it in scalar context like 
$cnt += m{pattern}g;

[download]

But then the usual workaround is

$cnt += () = m{pattern}g;

[download]

which is somewhat simpler and more natural than your reference-and-dereference trick.

In reply to Re^4: grep command by blazar
in thread grep command by sanku

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