$foo = 99; # Assigns the integer 99 to $foo. Scalar context. @Foo = ('Jack', 5, 'Jill', 4, 'John', 7); # A list assigned to @foo, values separated by commas. %foo = ('Jack', 5, 'Jill', 4, 'John', 7); # A list as key, value pairs. Better ways to write this exist.