difference between @, $

soubalaji has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

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Re: difference between @, $ by choroba (Cardinal) on Dec 07, 2011 at 15:44 UTC
In the first case, you are assigning to an array @a. The first element of the array will be the reference to the anonymous array containing 4 values. In the second case, you assign the reference directly to a scalar variable $a. Or, as SuicideJunkie put it in the CB: in the first case, `$a[0][2] == 3` and in the second case, `$a->[2] == 3`	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: difference between @, $ by si_lence (Deacon) on Dec 07, 2011 at 17:01 UTC
Just to add to the answers already given: I find it really helpful to visualize data structures with `Data::Dumper`. It helps me to see the difference. So `use Data::Dumper; my @a = ['1','2','3','4']; my $a = ['1','2','3','4']; print Dumper(\@a); print Dumper($a);` [download] gives `$VAR1 = [ [ '1', '2', '3', '4' ] ]; $VAR1 = [ '1', '2', '3', '4' ];` [download] illustrating the difference quite nicely.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: difference between @, $ by johngg (Canon) on Dec 07, 2011 at 18:12 UTC
It can also be useful to name the variables using Dump() or Dumpxs() (see Data::Dumper) to avoid confusion. `knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ perl -MData::Dumper -E ' > @arr1 = ( 1 .. 4 ); > @arr2 = [ 1 .. 4 ]; > $arr3 = [ 1 .. 4 ]; > print Data::Dumper->Dumpxs( > [ \ @arr1, \ @arr2, $arr3 ], > [ qw{ arr1 arr2 arr3 } ], > );' @arr1 = ( 1, 2, 3, 4 ); @arr2 = ( [ 1, 2, 3, 4 ] ); $arr3 = [ 1, 2, 3, 4 ]; knoppix@Microknoppix:~$` [download] I hope this is of interest. Cheers, JohnGG	[reply] [d/l]
Re: difference between @, $ by toolic (Bishop) on Dec 07, 2011 at 17:06 UTC
There's also the documentation... perldoc perldata perldoc perlref	[reply] [d/l]
Re: difference between @, $ by sumeetgrover (Monk) on Dec 07, 2011 at 16:02 UTC
I like choroba's answer, it's exactly the way it works. On a theoretical note: * List/Array assignment: `@list=('el1','el2','el3');` (Note, the parenthesis indicate that a regular array initialisation is being carried out.) * Array Reference Assignment: `$aref=['el1','el2','el3']` (Note, the scalar variable `$aref` is being assigned a reference to a list, enclosed in square brackets). Enjoy!	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: difference between @, $ by JavaFan (Canon) on Dec 07, 2011 at 17:30 UTC
Note, the parenthesis indicate that a regular array initialisation is being carried out. Eh, no. The list assignment actually stems from the LHS of the assignment being an array, not from the RHS having parens. The parens are needed because the comma has a lower precedence than the assignment operator. `$a = (1, 2); # Parens, but scalar assignment @a = 1; # No parens, but list assignment` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: difference between @, $ by TJPride (Pilgrim) on Dec 07, 2011 at 21:30 UTC
@a is an array, or potentially a set of values, while $a is a scalar, or single value. In this case, $a is being used to hold a reference to an array, but the reference is still a single value. I think you probably intended to assign the array values in list context, rather than just adding a reference: `@a = ['1','2','3','4']; ### NO @a = ('1','2','3','4'); ### YES print $_ for @a; ### Prints 1234 print $a[0]; ### Prints 1 ### Note that you use $ and not @ when referring to a ### single item in the array $a = ['1','2','3','4']; print $_ for @$a; ### Prints 1234 print $a->[0]; ### Prints 1 ### The -> is used when it's a reference to an array` [download]	[reply] [d/l]