A slice returns a list and assigning a list to a scalar will just assign the last item in the list to the scalar. It's just the same as

Update: A slice in scalar context returns the last item in the slice, and that will be assigned to $broken_count. It's similar in effect to

my $foo = (1,2,3); # assigns 3 to $foo

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map in scalar context returns what you're after: the length of the list. See map.

You may be more enlightened by the following small modification of your program: 

my %bar = (
  a => 'A',
  b => 'B',
  c => 'C',
  d => 'D',
);

my $broken_count  = @bar{'a', 'b'};
my $working_count = map {$_} @bar{'a', 'b'};

print "broken_count : $broken_count\n";  # B
print "working_count: $working_count\n"; # 2

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Update: Listy things in scalary context (there's no such thing as a "list in scalar context") are all special cased. You need to consult the relevant docs to see what will happen for each specific case.

Unless I state otherwise, all my code runs with strict and warnings

In reply to Re: Scalar context of slice by FunkyMonk
in thread Scalar context of slice by thenaz

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