note PrakashK <p>Is the first one even correct? I get the <code>Useless use of private variable in void context</code> warning, when warnings are enabled.</p> <p>Or, did you mean to say:</p> <code> &$ref(); </code> <p>I prefer the second one, as it feels more consistent with the way the other references are used as well:</p> <code> $aref->[...]; # as opposed to @$ref[...] $href->{...}; # as opposed to %$ref{...} </code> 999996 999996