zeroes

Core.xs new_from_specification(invoc, ...), ALIAS: PDL::zeroes = 1.

Also available as PDL::new_from_specification.

ST(0) is ALWAYS the invocant - that is the whole character of this sub and the reason upstream keeps a second, lenient one in Core.pm. PDL::zeroes(4,4) therefore means “the class 4, one dimension of 4”, and upstream reaches Can't locate object method "initialize" via package "4". It is not a synonym for zeroes(4,4), and treating it as one - which we did, by skipping the invocant only when it was the literal string “PDL” - silently accepted a call perl5 refuses.