$ perl -E' my @hints = ( [refs=>0x2], [subs=>0x200], [vars=>0x400] ); sub hints { my $h = (caller(0))[8]; my @h = map { $h & $_->[1] ? $_->[0] : () } @hints; @h ? join(",", @h) : "[none]" } say hints; # [none] use strict; say hints; # refs,subs,vars { say hints; # refs,subs,vars no strict; say hints; # [none] } say hints; # refs,subs,vars ' [none] refs,subs,vars refs,subs,vars [none] refs,subs,vars