$ perl -MO=Concise,-exec -e'@b = sort { foo() } @a' 1 <0> enter 2 <;> nextstate(main 2 -e:1) v 3 <0> pushmark s 4 <0> pushmark s 5 <#> gv[*a] s 6 <1> rv2av[t6] lK/1 7 <@> sort lKS* --> I guess the * means the sub is 8 <0> pushmark s attached to the op rather than 9 <#> gv[*b] s found on the stack. a <1> rv2av[t2] lKRM*/1 b <2> aassign[t7] vKS c <@> leave[1 ref] vKP/REFC -e syntax OK