I dont know perl's internals but i think to those functions as 'list returner'. No loop is involved as in @array = qw(a b c); Can you brake the assignement after 'b' is reached? No. The same for map grep and sort.
L*
There are no rules, there are no thumbs..
Reinvent the wheel, then learn The Wheel; may be one day you reinvent one of THE WHEELS.