Re^3: Autovivification with hash of hashes

[Aristotle]

Here you are strongly suggesting a symblic reference. As for the code, the part before && obviously evaluate to false, so that exists after && will be evaluated, but no auto-vivfication here, as $foo{bar} has been created by you earlier

Actually, a) the ref failing will immediately lead to the entire expression failing because he is using &&, not ||. b) If it got executed, strict would cause the exists to fail with a refs stricture violation.

And the latter is exactly what he's talking about protecting against by using ref.

Makeshifts last the longest.

[trs80]

Thank you, that is what I was trying to convey.

I think the most important thing to do when working with structures that may contain anonymous hash refereneces is to avoid using tests that access a possibly non existent hash reference key by name, which, as far as I know, is the only way to cause autovivification. I am not sure what, other then ref could even be used. This link provides some extended examples on the subject.
Autovivification Explained