my ($x) = split//,"foo"; # $x eq 'f' my $x = split//,"foo"; # $x == 3 my ($x) = map $_, qw(foo bar); # $x eq 'bar' my $x = map $_, qw(foo bar); # $x == 2 my ($x) = localtime; # seconds my $x = localtime; # String like ctime(3)