#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; package First; # set the symbol: MULTIPLIER # and make $x equal to its value. use constant MULTIPLIER => 5*5; my $x = MULTIPLIER; package Second; # set a new symbol: if $x is defined in this context, # make this MULTIPLIER the same as the first, # otherwise "2". use constant MULTIPLIER => defined $x ? First::MULTIPLIER : 2; # easy! It's an error...it's 265...it's 50? Find out :-) print MULTIPLIER * $x, "\n";