Rate    list     ref list_nc
list    132332/s      --    -52%    -56%
ref     273067/s    106%      --     -9%
list_nc 300755/s    127%     10%      --

##</code><code>##

         Rate    list list_nc     ref
list    148/s      --    -69%    -73%
list_nc 469/s    218%      --    -14%
ref     545/s    269%     16%      --

##</code><code>##

use strict;
use warnings;

use Benchmark qw( cmpthese );

sub pass_ref {
    my ($a) = @_;
    my $x = '';
    $x .= $_ for @$a;
    1;
}

sub pass_list {
    my @a = @_;
    my $x = '';
    $x .= $_ for @a;
    1;
}

sub pass_list_no_copy {
    my $x = '';
    $x .= $_ for @_;
    1;
}

my %tests = (
    ref     => 'pass_ref(\@a);',
    list    => 'pass_list(@a);',
    list_nc => 'pass_list_no_copy(@a);',
);

$_ = 'use strict; use warnings; our @a; ' . $_
    for values(%tests);

our @a = ('-') x ( $ARGV[0] || 10 );

cmpthese(-1, \%tests);