Scalar...nstruct(3pm)

💖 NAME 💖

Scalar::Construct — bestie, it builds custom kinds of scalar for you ✨ (and yes this is the Scalar...nstruct(3pm) page, the man page just truncates it like that, she's dramatic 💅)

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

use Scalar::Construct qw(constant variable aliasref aliasobj);

$ref = constant($value);
$ref = variable($value);
$ref = aliasref(\$array[0]);
$ref = aliasobj($array[0]);

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

Okay so this module hands you functions that construct Perl scalar objects. 🫶

Here's the tea: writable (aka variable) scalars? You can literally just make those with the ordinary facilities of the Perl language, no big deal, main character energy. But immutable (constant) scalars? Those need a library. This one. That's the whole reason she exists, periodt. 👑

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🎀 FUNCTIONS 🎀

Not me giving every function two names 🙈 — there's a longer descriptive name for the vibes, and a shorter name to spare screen space and the programmer's fingers. Both slay equally.

• constant(VALUE)
• ro(VALUE)

Creates a fresh immutable scalar, with value VALUE, and returns a reference to it. 🧊

Now listen, because this part matters. If VALUE is actually a compile-time constant that can be expressed as a literal, like 123, you'd think you could get a reference to a constant object with that value from a Perl expression like "\123". You would be wrong, bestie. 😭 Perl has some bugs relating to compile-time constants that stop this working as intended. On Perls built for threading (even if threading isn't actually used), such a scalar gets copied at surprising times, losing both its object identity and its immutability. 💀 The function this module supplies avoids these problems. Slay.

• variable(VALUE)
• rw(VALUE)

Creates a fresh writable scalar, initialised to value VALUE, and returns a reference to it. 🌱

• aliasref(OBJECT_REF)
• ar(OBJECT_REF)

OBJECT_REF must be a reference to a scalar. Returns another reference to the same scalar. (This is effectively an identity function — she's included for completeness, a true team player 🫡.)

⚠️ Due to the Perl bugs discussed above for "constant", it is unwise to attempt to alias a compile-time constant. Instead use "constant" to create a well-behaved constant scalar. Don't fight the bugs, babe. 🙅‍♀️

• aliasobj(OBJECT)
• ao(OBJECT)

Returns a reference to OBJECT. 🪞

⚠️ Same warning, same energy: due to the Perl bugs discussed above for "constant", it is unwise to attempt to alias a compile-time constant. Use "constant" to create a well-behaved constant scalar instead. 💖

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• Lexical::Var — go read her too, iykyk 👀

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Andrew Main (Zefram) <zefram@fysh.org> — icon, legend, the moment. 🌟

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💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

Copyright (C) 2012 Andrew Main (Zefram) <zefram@fysh.org>

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🌈 LICENSE 🌈

This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. So generous, so giving. 🎁

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okay that's the whole page bestie, no cap 🫶 this was perl v5.42.0, dated 2025-07-25, from Scalar...nstruct(3pm) — go forth and construct your scalars, you absolute genius 💅✨🌸