Array Basics

# ========================================
# Declaring and initializing arrays
# ========================================

# Declare with a list
my @names = ("Goku", "Vegeta", "Piccolo");

# Use qw// to create a whitespace-delimited list (no quotes needed)
my @levels = (9000, 8000, 3500);

# Declare an empty array
my @empty = ();

# ========================================
# Accessing elements (index is 0-based)
# ========================================

my $first  = $names[0];    # First element: "Goku"
my $second = $names[1];    # Second element: "Vegeta"
my $last   = $names[-1];   # Last element (negative index): "Piccolo"

# ========================================
# Getting the array size
# ========================================

my $count    = scalar(@names);  # Number of elements: 3
my $last_idx = $#names;         # Last index: 2

# ========================================
# Adding and removing elements
# ========================================

push @names, "Frieza";      # Append to the end
my $popped = pop @names;    # Remove from the end ("Frieza")

unshift @names, "Gohan";    # Prepend to the front
my $shifted = shift @names; # Remove from the front ("Gohan")

# ========================================
# Slices (retrieving multiple elements at once)
# ========================================

my @heroes = ("Goku", "Vegeta", "Piccolo", "Frieza", "Gohan");
my @slice  = @heroes[0, 2, 4];    # Get elements at index 0, 2, and 4
my @range  = @heroes[1..3];       # Get elements at index 1 through 3

dragonball_array.pl

#!/usr/bin/perl
# ========================================
# dragonball_array.pl — Manages Dragon Ball character
# information using arrays
# ========================================

use strict;
use warnings;
use feature 'say';

# ----------------------------------------
# Declare character names and power levels as arrays
# ----------------------------------------
my @names  = ("Goku", "Vegeta", "Piccolo", "Frieza", "Gohan");
my @powers = (150000000, 120000000, 1000000, 530000, 2000000);
my @races  = qw/Saiyan Saiyan Namekian Frieza-race Half-Saiyan/;

# ----------------------------------------
# Check element count and last index
# ----------------------------------------
my $count    = scalar(@names);
my $last_idx = $#names;
say "Character count: " . $count;
say "Last index: " . $last_idx;
say "";

# ----------------------------------------
# Access each element by index
# ----------------------------------------
say "=== Character Profiles ===";
for my $i (0 .. $#names) {
    # Use printf to align columns
    printf "%-16s  Race: %-16s  Power: %d\n",
        $names[$i], $races[$i], $powers[$i];
}
say "";

# ----------------------------------------
# Get the last element using a negative index
# ----------------------------------------
say "First character: " . $names[0];
say "Last character: " . $names[-1];
say "";

# ----------------------------------------
# push / pop to append and remove from the end
# ----------------------------------------
say "=== push / pop ===";
push @names, "Goten";
say "End after push: " . $names[-1];   # Goten
my $popped = pop @names;
say "Removed by pop: " . $popped;      # Goten
say "";

# ----------------------------------------
# unshift / shift to prepend and remove from the front
# ----------------------------------------
say "=== unshift / shift ===";
unshift @names, "Krillin";
say "Front after unshift: " . $names[0];  # Krillin
my $shifted = shift @names;
say "Removed by shift: " . $shifted;      # Krillin
say "";

# ----------------------------------------
# Use a slice to retrieve multiple elements at once
# ----------------------------------------
say "=== Slices ===";
my @saiyan_pair = @names[0, 1];       # Goku and Vegeta
say "Saiyan pair: " . join(", ", @saiyan_pair);

my @middle = @names[1..3];            # Index 1 through 3
say "Middle 3: " . join(", ", @middle);
say "";

# ----------------------------------------
# Sort power levels in descending order
# ----------------------------------------
say "=== Power Level Ranking (descending) ===";
my @sorted_powers = sort { $b <=> $a } @powers;   # <=> is the numeric comparison operator
for my $p (@sorted_powers) {
    say $p;
}
say "";

# ----------------------------------------
# Reverse the array
# ----------------------------------------
say "=== Characters in reverse ===";
my @reversed = reverse @names;
say join(", ", @reversed);

perl dragonball_array.pl
Character count: 5
Last index: 4

=== Character Profiles ===
Goku              Race: Saiyan            Power: 150000000
Vegeta            Race: Saiyan            Power: 120000000
Piccolo           Race: Namekian          Power: 1000000
Frieza            Race: Frieza-race       Power: 530000
Gohan             Race: Half-Saiyan       Power: 2000000

First character: Goku
Last character: Gohan

=== push / pop ===
End after push: Goten
Removed by pop: Goten

=== unshift / shift ===
Front after unshift: Krillin
Removed by shift: Krillin

=== Slices ===
Saiyan pair: Goku, Vegeta
Middle 3: Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza

=== Power Level Ranking (descending) ===
150000000
120000000
2000000
1000000
530000

=== Characters in reverse ===
Gohan, Frieza, Piccolo, Vegeta, Goku

Arrays are declared with the @ sigil and hold multiple scalar values in order. When accessing an individual element, the sigil changes to $array[index] — because you are retrieving a single scalar value. Use push / pop to work with the end of an array, and unshift / shift to work with the front. Slices let you extract a sub-array by specifying multiple indexes, such as @array[0, 2]. Because sort defaults to string order, use the <=> (spaceship) operator inside a block to sort numerically.

For basic hash operations, see the Hash (hash_basic) page.