Chapter 3. Lists and Arrays

If a scalar was the "singular" in Perl, as we described them at the beginning of Chapter 2, the "plural" in Perl is represented by lists and arrays.

A list is an ordered collection of scalars. An array is a variable that contains a list. In Perl, the two terms are often used as if they're interchangeable. But, to be accurate, the list is the data, and the array is the variable. You can have a list value that isn't in an array, but every array variable holds a list (although that list may be empty). Figure 3-1 represents a list, whether it's stored in an array or not.