my($x) = foo(...); 

##</code><code>##

my $x = foo(...);

##</code><code>##

my ($x) = split//,"foo";          # $x eq 'f'
my $x   = split//,"foo";          # $x == 3

my ($x) = map $_, qw(foo bar);    # $x eq 'bar'
my $x   = map $_, qw(foo bar);    # $x == 2

my ($x) = localtime;              # seconds
my $x   = localtime;              # String like ctime(3) 

##</code><code>##

sub foo { my @a = qw(foo bar); @a } 
sub bar { my @a = qw(foo bar); wantarray ? @a : $a[0] } 

my($p) = foo;    # $p eq 'foo'
my $q  = foo;    # $q == 2     (different information)
my($r) = bar;    # $r eq 'foo'
my $s  = bar;    # $s eq 'foo' (same information)