When you return a value from a subroutine, you should 'catch' it in a variable, or use it outright:

my $myname = myname();
# or
print myname(), "\n";
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A return token is really quite optional - Perl will return the last value evaluated, so:

sub myname {
    my $name = "bill";
}
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will return 'bill.' As for your second example - $myname is declared outside of sub myname - but it is accessible by myname(). It works because you defined $myname, unlike you did in the first example.

The best way to deal with this is like so:

my $myname = myname();
print "my name is $myname\n";

sub myname {
    my $name = "bill";  # notice subtle change in variable name
    return $name;       # not necessary, $myname works too
}                           # but it is not the same $myname ;)
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Jeff

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