Question

$bar = 7;
$foo =& $bar = 9;

From a technical stand point, wouldn’t this be evaluated from right to left?
So: $bar = 9; $foo =& $bar

In case anyone is wondering. The reason I’m doing this on one line is to avoid toe nail clippings.

Answer 1

The assignment expression $bar = 9 doesn’t return a reference to $bar (i.e. the variable itself); instead, it returns the integer value 9.

Or if you need a quote from the manual:

The value of an assignment expression is the value assigned. That is, the value of “$a = 3” is 3.

You can’t assign a reference directly to a value, only to a variable that holds that value. So your handy one-liner fails spectacularly, and you’ll have to split it into two.