However, (2,4,6) clearly isn't a scalar.

Actually, it is.

Well, it's a Perl expression. But it's a scalar in the same sense that 3+5 is a scalar because it evaluates to scalar.

In scalar context, (2,4,6) evaluates to the single scalar 6. That is the case here.

In list context, (2,4,6) evaluates to the three scalars 2, 4 and 6. That is not the case here.

The block is expected to return a single scalar that is a reference, so it's evaluated in scalar context, so the last statement of the block is evaluated in scalar context.

In reply to Re: passing an array without a name to pop() by ikegami
in thread passing an array without a name to pop() by TieUpYourCamel

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.