use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;
use File::Glob ':bsd_glob';

my @arr1 = get_list1();
print Dumper(\@arr1);

my @arr2 = get_list2();
print Dumper(\@arr2);

sub get_list1 {
    return < abc def ghi >;
}
sub get_list2 {
    return qw( abc def ghi );
}

__DATA__

$VAR1 = [
          ' abc def ghi '
        ];
$VAR1 = [
          'abc',
          'def',
          'ghi'
        ];