Revision history [back]

The comma operator in Perl is used to separate expressions, variables, and elements in arrays or hashes. It evaluates each expression sequentially, from left to right, and returns the value of the last expression.

Here are some examples of the comma operator in action:

• $a = 1, $b = 2, $c = 3; assigns the values 1, 2, and 3 to the variables $a, $b, and $c, respectively.
• $result = ($x > 0) ? $x : ($y < 0) ? -$y : 0, $max; calculates $result based on the values of $x and $y, and then assigns it to $max.
• @list = (1, 2, 3), 4, 5; creates an array with the values 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

The context in Perl refers to the way in which an expression is evaluated or used. It can be scalar context (where a single value is expected), list context (where a group of values is expected), or void context (where no value is expected).

Here are some examples of context in Perl:

• my $count = @array; assigns the number of elements in @array (in scalar context) to $count.
• my @first_two = @array[0,1]; assigns the first two elements of @array (in list context) to @first_two.
• print @array; prints all the elements of @array (in list context), separated by the value of $".

The context of an expression can also affect the behavior of functions or operators. For example, the slice operator @array[...] returns a list of elements in list context, but a scalar value (the last element) in scalar context. Similarly, the pop function removes and returns the last element of an array in scalar context, but all the elements up to the last one in list context.