I'd say "but that builds up and then destroys an array referencce", but I don't know which takes more time, and then I'd say "benchmark it", but this would be a case of micro-optimizing. So I will agree with your intent: use whichever construct is clearer to you.
Jeff japhy Pinyan, P.L., P.M., P.O.D, X.S.: Perl, regex, and perl hacker
How can we ever be the sold short or the cheated, we who for every service have long ago been overpaid? ~~ Meister Eckhart

In reply to Re^2: Perl Idioms Explained - my $count = () = /.../g by japhy
in thread Perl Idioms Explained - my $count = () = /.../g by japhy

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