my $columns = [ qw (one two three) ]; # sample data is GOOD
print join "\t",@{$columns}. "\n";
print join ("\t",@{$columns}). "\n";
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What happened to the first line? Precendance my friend, the dot causes @{$columns} to be evaluated in scalar context, leaving join only one element to well, join: "3\n".

That's why i like to use a comma instead:

print join "\t",@{$columns}, "\n";
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jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
F--F--F--F--F--F--F--F--
(the triplet paradiddle)

Interesting, I hadn't realized that... This short snippet might illustrate the core issue a bit clearer.

#!/usr/bin/perl -wT
use strict;

my @arr = (7,8,9);

print ",, => " , @arr , "\n";  # two commas
print ",. => " , @arr . "\n";  # comma then dot
print "., => " . @arr , "\n";  # dot then comma
print ".. => " . @arr . "\n";  # two dots

=OUTPUT
,, => 789
,. => 3
., => 3
.. => 3
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-Blake

Note that your final example:

print join "\t",@{$columns}, "\n";


ends the output with "\t\n" instead of just "\n". Note much of a "bug" in this case, but a common mistake that can often have more serious effects.     print join("\t",@{$columns}), "\n";

        - tye (but my friends call me "Tye")