Perl: Return anonymous array from a subroutine

Question

I'm trying to return an anonymous array from a subroutine, however, when dumping the returned variable I only see one value (I'm expecting two).

Here is my code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

use Data::Dumper;

my $fruits_ref = generate_fruits();
print "Fruits: " . Dumper($fruits_ref) . "\n";

sub generate_fruits
{
    return ("Apple", "Orange");
}

This outputs:

Fruits: $VAR1 = 'Orange';

How do I get the subroutine to return that array ref?

You're not returning an array, you're returning a list. An array is ["Apple", "Orange"] — user3458
– user3458, Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 19:43
Is it possible to return the entire list? How might I unpack the list? — Dirty Penguin
– Dirty Penguin, Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 19:44
List becomes its last element when you pass it to scalar context. To pass to list context, you could do my @fruits = generate_fruits(); . But that is likely not what you need - you seem to need a reference. For that, just use square brackets. Oh, another alternative is my $fruits_ref = [generate_fruits()]; — user3458
– user3458, Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 19:47
Thanks @arkadiy. If you post a answer I'd be happy to accept. — Dirty Penguin
– Dirty Penguin, Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 19:50

choroba · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-12 19:47:52Z

8

Anonymous arrays are constructed with square brackets.

return [ 'Apple', 'Orange' ]

answered Feb 12, 2016 at 19:47

choroba

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Comments

score 2 · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-12 20:53:12Z

2

You're not returning an array (or a reference to array), you're returning a list. A reference to anonymous array is ["Apple", "Orange"]

List becomes its last element when you pass it to scalar context. To pass to list context, you could do

my @fruits = generate_fruits();

But that is likely not what you need - you seem to need a reference. For that, just use square brackets.

Oh, another alternative is

my $fruits_ref = [generate_fruits()];

edited Feb 12, 2016 at 20:53

answered Feb 12, 2016 at 19:51

user3458

1 Comment

Matt Jacob Over a year ago

Nit: ["Apple", "Orange"] is not an array; it's a reference to an anonymous array. An array would be @array = ("Apple", "Orange").

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