thanks to both kennethk and ikegami.

the first code from kennethk does indeed work. so i guess i don't understand what routines that return an array really do......

given this snippet : 

foreach my $node ( @{ $self->{_children} } ) {
  push @list, $node->traverse();
}
return @list;

[download]

is the following a correct description ? 

foreach node in the children ARRAY
  recursively call this routine
  if the node has children
    recursively call this routine
  if the node has NO children
    the returned list is just that node

  each time the routine returns
    it's array is pushed onto the array of the callee

  when the routine reaches the end of the top children ARRAY
    the visited nodes haved all been pushed into the top list

[download]

for some reason, i had the impression that if you push an ARRAY into an ARRAY, the ARRAYS are preserved (not merged).

thanks for your patience and support

In reply to Re^3: map & arrays & recursion by Anonymous Monk
in thread map & arrays & recursion by Anonymous Monk

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.