Because despite the name @list you're in fact assigning it a single element which is precisely the string "'Ashok Hello'", that is: without the external double quotes, but with the internal single ones. That is precisely the difference between q() and qw(): the former returns non interpolated strings, and when used with "'" (single quotes) as a delimiter "q" become redundant, while the latter returns a list of (non interpolated) "words"¹, splitting on whitespace.

---

¹ Notice the double quotes - I mean that they're not required to match /^\w+$/.

---

---

• Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
• Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:

  <code> <a> <b> <big> <blockquote> <br /> <dd> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr /> <i> <li> <nbsp> <ol> <p> <small> <strike> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <td> <th> <tr> <tt> <u> <ul>

• Snippets of code should be wrapped in <code> tags not <pre> tags. In fact, <pre> tags should generally be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor intervention).
• Want more info? How to link or How to display code and escape characters are good places to start.