Why? Scalar assignment always imposes scalar context.

Perhaps the OP didn't want to do an assignment. Contrast 

  @a = ( 42 );
  printf("%d\n", @a);         # prints 42
  printf("%d\n", scalar(@a)); # prints 1

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I find it is seldom necessary to use scalar(), since I'm more likely to do assignment or conditional testing, where scalar context is implied. But scalar() has its place when the default is list context.

In reply to Re^3: How to find number of elements of an array from array reference by jpl
in thread How to find number of elements of an array from array reference by chakreey

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