$item = $a[ rand @a ];

##</code><code>##

  my @items;
  for ( 1 .. $n )
  {
    push @items, $a[ rand @a ];
  }

##</code><code>##

  my @items;
  for ( 1 .. $n )
  {
    push @items, splice @a, rand @a, 1;
  }