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Mastering Modern Perl: Writing Efficient and Maintainable Code

Context and Array Interpolation

Learn how context affects arrays and how arrays interpolate in Perl.

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Arrays and context

In list context, arrays flatten into lists. If we pass multiple arrays to a normal function, they will flatten into a single list:

Perl
my @cats = qw( Daisy Petunia Tuxedo Brad Jack Choco );
my @dogs = qw( Rodney Lucky Rosie );
take_pets_to_vet( @cats, @dogs );
sub take_pets_to_vet {
    # BUGGY: do not use!
    my (@cats, @dogs) = @_;
    say "Cats =>"."@cats";
    say "Dogs =>"."@dogs";
}

Within the function, @_ will contain nine elements, not two, because list ...