```ebnf
simple_variable ::= T_VARIABLE | '$' '{' expr '}' | '$' simple_variable
```
function(byref) {
    let result = this.node("variable");
    let name;
    if (
      this.expect([this.tok.T_VARIABLE, "$"]) &&
      this.token === this.tok.T_VARIABLE
    ) {
      // plain variable name
      name = this.text().substring(1);
      this.next();
      result = result(name, byref, false);
    } else {
      if (this.token === "$") this.next();
      // dynamic variable name
      switch (this.token) {
        case "{": {
          const expr = this.next().read_expr();
          this.expect("}") && this.next();
          result = result(expr, byref, true);
          break;
        }
        case "$": // $$$var
          // @fixme check coverage here
          result = result(this.read_simple_variable(false), byref, false);
          break;
        case this.tok.T_VARIABLE: {
          // $$var
          name = this.text().substring(1);
          const node = this.node("variable");
          this.next();
          result = result(node(name, false, false), byref, false);
          break;
        }
        default:
          this.error(["{", "$", this.tok.T_VARIABLE]);
          // graceful mode
          name = this.text();
          this.next();
          result = result(name, byref, false);
      }
    }
    return result;
  }