use strict;
use warnings;
use Encode qw< encode >;
my $chars = "whatever";
print length($chars),
   " characters - initial string\n";

encode('UTF-8', $chars);
print length($chars),
   " characters - first encode, no FB_CROAK\n";

encode('UTF-8', "$chars", Encode::FB_CROAK);
print length($chars),
   " characters - second encode, FB_CROAK on, readonly string\n";

encode('UTF-8', $chars, Encode::FB_CROAK);
print length($chars),
   " characters - third encode, FB_CROAK, on original string\n";

##</code><code>##

8 characters - initial string
8 characters - first encode, no FB_CROAK
8 characters - second encode, FB_CROAK on, readonly string
0 characters - third encode, FB_CROAK, on original string