$str = "aa bb cc"; # scalar context $a = $str =~ m/(\w+)/; print "$a\n"; # prints 1 # list context (1 element list $a) ($a) = $str =~ m/(\w+)/g; print "$a\n"; # prints aa # list context (multi element array list) @a = $str =~ m/(\w+)/g; print "@a\n"; # prints aa bb cc #### print localtime(), "\n"; print scalar localtime(), "\n"; $time = localtime(); @time = localtime(); print "\$time => $time\n"; print "\@time => @time\n";