my @arr = qw ( apples oranges bananas pears berries apricots   );
my @arr_of_columns = split_list( \@arr, 2 );


##</code><code>##

	['apples', 'bananas','berries', 'prunes']
	['oranges','pears',  'apricots']


##</code><code>##

my $arr_of_arr = split_list( [ 1 .. 7 ], 3, undef );


##</code><code>##

	[1,4,7]
	[2,5,undef]
	[3,6,undef]


##</code><code>##

sub split_list {
    use integer;
    my ( $list_ref, $qty, $pad ) = @_;
    return unless ref $list_ref eq 'ARRAY';
    my @return;
    if ( !( @$list_ref % $qty ) || @_ == 2  ) {
        push @{ $return[$_ % $qty] }, $list_ref->[$_] for 0 .. $#$list_ref;

    } else {
        my $padded = $qty - @$list_ref % $qty;
        push @{ $list_ref }, ($pad) x $padded;
        push @{ $return[$_ % $qty] }, $list_ref->[$_] for 0 .. $#$list_ref;
        pop @$list_ref for 1 .. $padded;
    }
    return @return if wantarray;
    return \@return;
}