How can I convert the stringified version of array reference to actual array reference in Perl?

Question

Is there any way to get Perl to convert the stringified version e.g (ARRAY(0x8152c28)) of an array reference to the actual array reference?

For example

Answer 1

Yes, it's possible: use Devel::FindRef.

use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;
use Devel::FindRef;

sub ref_again {
   my $str = @_ ? shift : $_;
   my ($addr) = map hex, ($str =~ /\((.+?)\)/);
   Devel::FindRef::ptr2ref $addr;
}

my $ref = [1, 2, 3];
my $str = "$ref";
my $ref_again = ref_again($str);

print Dumper($ref_again);