The discussion was about concerns that return undef; in list context returns a list that is one element long, and thus true. In contrast, a bare return; in list context returns a zero-length result. This is a point that is lost on many acolytes. return undef; might bite you if you naively did something like: 
my @names = $os->name( long => 1 ) or next; # No names

[download]
On the other hand, of you did 
my @names = map $_->name( long => 1 ), @oses;

[download]
you would end up with lists of different lengths with the bare return;. Your solution puts the list elements back in scalar context, and thus avoids the actual question.

Update: I remembered where it really bites people: 

my %hash = (name    => $os->name( long => 1 ),
            version => $os->version,
    );

[download]
where the mismatch has now resulted in a transposition of keys and values.

#11929 First ask yourself `How would I do this without a computer?' Then have the computer do it the same way.

In reply to Re^4: A question about method return values and error checking by kennethk
in thread A question about method return values and error checking by wee

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.