Re: Returning lists vs arrays

This illustrates the differences that I am referring to.

!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

sub list { return ( "a", "b", "c") }

sub array {
   my @ret = ( "a", "b", "c");
   return @ret;
}

sub ar_as_list{
   my @ret = ( "a", "b", "c");
   return $ret[-1] unless wantarray;
   return @ret;
}

my $a = list();
my $b = array();
my $c = ar_as_list();

print "list >$a<\narray >$b<\nar_as_list >$c<\n";

__DATA__
list >c<
array >3<
ar_as_list >c<
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Comment on Re: Returning lists vs arrays Download Code

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•Re: Re: Returning lists vs arrays by merlyn (Sage) on Jan 21, 2003 at 05:10 UTC
Your model is perhaps flawed. At no time does Perl "return" an "array". A more accurate model is that Perl calls a subroutine with a flag that says "I want a scalar" or "I want a list". When the last expression of the subroutine is evaluated (such as for a `return` operator), that subroutine gets scalar or list eval context applied to it, as appropriate. So, a subroutine returns a list or scalar. Always. It never returns an array. If you write `return @a`, it will return the length of array `@a` in a scalar context, or a list copied from the contents of `@a` in a list context. At no time has it "returned" the "array" `@a`. Clear now? -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.	[reply]
Re: Re: Returning lists vs arrays by OM_Zen (Scribe) on Jan 20, 2003 at 17:44 UTC
Hi , `sub array{ my @ret = ( "a", "b", "c", "d"); return \@ret; } my $b = &array(); my @B = @$b;` [download]	[reply] [d/l]