You can't return arrays from subroutines. You can only return (a list of) scalars.

You can return an array ref by specifying an AV* return type - see this section of perlxs (take note of the remark about refcounts).

Returning lists is a bit more involved, lookup XPUSH in perlxstut and perlapi

So in short, returning an array ref is easier to code and can be significantly more efficient if you're returning a lot of values, but it can also be "uglier" to use, especially if you're returning multiple values that really are mostly used as different things instead of a big list.

Returning a list is more work to code, but may lead to a nicer API for the perl side.

"What should it profit a man, if he should win a flame war, yet lose his cool?"

In reply to Re: Return array or list from an XSUB? by Joost
in thread Return array or list from an XSUB? by smee30

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