Functions can't return arrays, they can only return a list of scalars. How does one extract a scalar from a list of scalars? Using a list slice. 
( EXPR )[$index]
( EXPR )[@indexes]

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So, 
use File::Spec qw( );
my $file = ( File::Spec->splitpath($path) )[2];

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There's also 
use File::Basename qw( basename );  # Also core module
my $file = basename($path);

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use File::Path qw( file );  # Addresses issues with File::Spec
my $file = file($path)->basename();

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In reply to Re: How to access directly an element of an array / list returned by a function? by ikegami
in thread How to access directly an element of an array / list returned by a function? by vic2608

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