One might expect that after the effects of the local are over, $x and $y could refer back to the original %h,
Why should it?
$x and
$y are assigned to the value returned by the
do block. And this value happens to be an anonymous hash ref produced within the block. And
$x does not know anything about the
%h hash. The fact that
%h is restored to an empty hash immediately thereafter is irrelevant to the value acquired by
$x at the time of the assignment.
Well, I understand your concern, but I do not think there is any reason to worry here. I think the behavior is quite clear.
