When I have a function that returns a list in list context and something else in scalar context, and I only want the first element, I use the following:

my ($field) = $mech->xpath( '//div' );

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In reply to Re: scenarios to force list context by Corion
in thread scenarios to force list context by Anonymous Monk

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
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