c:\@Work\Perl>perl -wMstrict -MData::Dumper -le "my $final = { qw(a 1 b 2 c 3), d => [ 9, 8, 7 ] }; my @x = qw(a b c); print 'data to start'; print Dumper $final; print Dumper \@x; ;; my $f = 'ZOT'; ;; print 'void-context expression'; ($final->{$x[1]}, $f); print Dumper $final; ;; print 'assign list in scalar context'; $final->{$x[1]} = ($final->{$x[1]}, $f); print Dumper $final; " Useless use of hash element in void context at -e line 1. Useless use of hash element in void context at -e line 1. Useless use of private variable in void context at -e line 1. data to start $VAR1 = { 'c' => '3', 'a' => '1', 'b' => '2', 'd' => [ 9, 8, 7 ] }; $VAR1 = [ 'a', 'b', 'c' ]; void-context expression $VAR1 = { 'c' => '3', 'a' => '1', 'b' => '2', 'd' => [ 9, 8, 7 ] }; assign list in scalar context $VAR1 = { 'c' => '3', 'a' => '1', 'b' => 'ZOT', 'd' => [ 9, 8, 7 ] };