in reply to If you believe in Lists in Scalar Context, Clap your Hands
I think the problem is program code vs. execution.
By the definition, this sub returns a list. We all know that during runtime, it might not be a list, but how else would you describe what the sub is returning shortly?
Look at this code:
sub foo { ... return ($x, $y, $z); }
By the definition, this sub returns a list. We all know that during runtime, it might not be a list, but how else would you describe what the sub is returning shortly?
Now this code:
my $x = foo();
This is a function call in scalar context. Now, together
with the definition of the subroutine above, the sub
somehow returns the list in scalar context. By definition.
Which, during runtime turns out to be a scalar,
because the list never existed, because perl knows the
context early enough. So I would agree there is no list
in scalar context during runtime, but for me it's clearly
describing what code does. Whenever I read another
post "There is no list in scalar context" I think, *sigh*,
yeah, there might never exist such a list, but it's a
good description of the behaviour.
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