sub good { return (10, 8); } sub bad { return (); } my ($price, $floor); ($price, $floor) = good() or ($price, $floor) = (0, 0); print "good: price=$price, floor=$floor\n"; ($price, $floor) = bad() or ($price, $floor) = (0, 0); print "bad: price=$price, floor=$floor\n";