#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use Data::Dumper; use FreezeThaw qw/ thaw freeze /; my $ds = { -foo => [ -bar => [0, 1], 3 ], -ping => 1 }; $ds->{-zort} = \$ds; my ($dsft) = thaw freeze $ds; $dsft->{-ping} = 2; print Dumper [$ds, $dsft];