in reply to list assignment to list in scalar context
Ok, here goes.
scalar((1,2,3))
has no list in it. The confusion is that we (English speakers) "list" things by separating them using commas. From Perl's perspective, there is nothing in that statement to provide a list context. "scalar" can take any expression, and just sees comma separators, no matter how many sets of parentheses you surround it with.
scalar(()=(1,3,5))on the other hand, has an assignment that forces a list context, so the answer becomes "3".
if( ($k, $v) = ( 1, 0 ) )works the same way. The left side of the assignment is now a list, because of the equals sign. The overall context of any boolean test is scalar, so that an "if list" always provides the element count.
In Section
Seekers of Perl Wisdom