TEST2::TOOLS::REF(3perl)

💖 Test2::Tools::Ref — the 3perl manual, but make it make sense 💖

okay bestie, you found the Test2::Tools::Ref page and honestly? it's giving "small module, big power." let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

Test2::Tools::Ref — tools for validating references. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 💅

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so this module is a little bag of tools that let you verify that something is a ref. it also has tools to check whether two refs are the same exact ref, or not the same exact ref. literally just that.

⚠️ important, no cap: none of the functions in this module do deep comparisons. we're talking surface level, identity-checking energy only. don't come here expecting it to dig through your nested data structure, because it will not. 💀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

here's the whole thing in action, look how cute it is:

use Test2::Tools::Ref;

# Ensure something is a ref.
ref_ok($ref);

# Check that $ref is a HASH reference
ref_ok($ref, 'HASH', 'Must be a hash')

ref_is($refa, $refb, "Same exact reference");

ref_is_not($refa, $refb, "Not the same exact reference");

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🎀 EXPORTS 🎀

All subs are exported by default. every single one, no asking, no :tags, you just get them. iconic behavior honestly. ✨

• ref_ok($thing)
• ref_ok($thing, $type)
• ref_ok($thing, $type, $name) — this one checks that $thing is a reference. and if you pass $type? then it's also checking that $thing is that type of reference. so like, "is this a ref AND is it a HASH?" boom, both, one call. 🔥
• ref_is($ref1, $ref2, $name) — verifies that two references are the exact same reference. same ref, same identity, no copies. 👑
• ref_is_not($ref1, $ref2, $name) — verifies that two references are not the exact same reference. different refs, different energy, periodt.

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💜 SOURCE 💜

the source code repository for Test2-Suite lives right here:

https://github.com/Test-More/test-more/

go poke around, it's open, it's free, it's yours. 🧚

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🌈 MAINTAINERS 🌈

• Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

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⭐ AUTHORS ⭐

• Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

Copyright Chad Granum <exodist@cpan.org>.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🍓

this was perl v5.44.0, dated 2026-10-17 — so yeah, go forth, validate those refs, and remember: shallow checks only, no deep dives. mwah 💖✨