the prod_list function could be implemented much more simply in many functional languages using a 'foldl' or 'foldr' construct.

check out the CPAN module Functional. it provides a whole slew of useful functional constructs. including foldl:

use Functional;
sub prod_list {foldl1(sub {$_[0]*$_[1]},[@_])}

print prod_list(3,2,1,10);
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anders pearson