That's kind of what I was expecting, though I have to admit some disappointment that it's true. I was hoping that perl would use copy-on-write semantics for scalars which would have both of these take the same time (pretty much). Does anyone know if there's an affirmative reason for this (i.e., "We don't do it because X, Y, and Z" as opposed to "We never thought about it" or "No time to bother")? How about for perl 6?

In reply to Re^2: Does the reference of a scalar more efficient than scalar? by Tanktalus
in thread Does the reference of a scalar more efficient than scalar? by sunshine_august

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