my %gnarf  = mysub($val);

   my $foo    = $gnarf{'foo_count'};
   my $bar    = $gnarf{'bar_count'};
   my @gak    = @{$gnarf{gak_array}};
   my @flub   = @{$gnarf{flub_array}};

   ### Take in the string $val, produce some
   ### scalars and two arrays
   sub mysub {
      my $val  = shift;

      # do stuff with $val, a string, producing @foos,
      # @bars, @gaks, and @flubs, and some other simple 
      # scalars here to count the elements in the list

      my $foos = @foos;    # count elements of @foos
      my $bars = @bars;    # ditto for @bars

      return (foo_count    => $foos,
              bar_count    => $bars,
              gak_array    => [sort @gaks],
              flub_array   => [sort @flubs]);
   }