my ($first) = (2, 4, 6, 8); my ($first, $second) = (2, 4, 6, 8); # an array on the LHS will "eat up" all remaining elements: my ($first, $second, @remaining) = (2, 4, 6, 8); # undef can be used to "skip" elements you don't want to assign # to anything: my (undef, undef, $third) = (2, 4, 6, 8);