why it gets larger from having half of its elements removed.

Because using $#array causes some magic to be attached to the array.

You don't even have to assign to $#array for this to happen, only reference it:

@b = 1 .. 10; print size \@b;;
256

print $#b; print size \@b;;
9
440
[download]

And yes, 184 bytes does seem excessive. You'd think that the magic could be stored once and simply referenced for each array using an 4/8-byte pointer.

Because using $#array causes some magic to be attached to the array.

Technically speaking, a temporary magic object is created that points to the array. When the object is assigned to, it truncates the array. This object is freed (well, returned to the pool anyway) at the end of the statement. The array itself never gains any magic.

Dave.

This object is freed (well, returned to the pool anyway) at the end of the statement.

Thanks for the correction. But it does raise the question of what is in those 184 bytes that remain?

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