But they don't create lists. They are 'required' just as they are in some cases required to call a function correctly. That doesn't mean parens call functions. In the case you describe, parentheses are used for precedence: 
perl -MO=Deparse,-p -e"@a = 1,2,3,4,5; print @a"
((@a = 1), '???', '???', '???', '???');
print(@a);
-e syntax OK

[download]
A list is still created - it's just not the list you want.

In reply to Re^6: wantarray - surprise behaviour by Anonymous Monk
in thread wantarray - surprise behaviour by shemp

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