#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

my $iter = combo( 5 , 1 .. 50  );
while ( my @combo = $iter->() ) {
    print "@combo\n";
}

sub combo {
    my $by = shift;
    return sub { () } if ! $by || $by =~ /\D/ || @_ < $by;
    my @list = @_;

    my @position = (0 .. $by - 2, $by - 2);
    my @stop     = @list - $by .. $#list;
    my $end_pos  = $#position;
    my $done     = undef;

    return sub {
        return () if $done;
        my $cur = $end_pos;
        {
            if ( ++$position[ $cur ] > $stop[ $cur ] ) {
                $position[ --$cur ]++;
                redo if $position[ $cur ] > $stop[ $cur ];
                my $new_pos = $position[ $cur ];
                @position[ $cur .. $end_pos ] = $new_pos .. $new_pos + $by;
            }
        }
        $done = 1 if $position[0] == $stop[0];
        return @list[ @position ];
    }
}