[ 1, 2, 3]; # a readonly temporary reference to a mutable anonymous array [ 1, 2, $x]; # also a readonly temporary reference to a mutable anonymous array bless 'Foo', [1,2,3];# a readonly temporary reference to a mutable anonymous array # where the array was mutated by blessing it $a = [1, 2, 3]; # $a is a rw copy of the temp ro array reference