Re^3: What is the difference between $array[1] and @array[1]?

[JavaFan]

It used to be that in Perl, a '$' introduced a scalar value/variable (1 value), a '@' a list value/array (0, 1 or more values) and a '%' a hash variable. Life was simple, and sigils easy to explain.

Then we got perl5 and objects, and expressions like $obj->method, where the sigil is '$' even if the method is going to return multiple values. Life no longer is simple, and people got the feeling sigils are wrong and Perl6 will change how sigils are used.