How to convert an array reference to an array in Perl?

Question

I know I can create an array and a reference to an array as follows:

my @arr = ();
my $rarr = \@arr;

I can then iterate over the array reference as follows:

foreach my $i (@{$rarr}){

}

Is there a way to copy or convert the array ref to a normal array so I can return it from a function? (Ideally without using that foreach loop and a push).

Answer 1

You have the answer in your question :-)

use warnings;
use strict;

sub foo() {
    my @arr = ();
    push @arr, "hello", ", ", "world", "\n";
    my $arf = \@arr;
    return @{$arf}; # <- here
}

my @bar = foo();
map { print; } (@bar);

Answer 2

Like this:

return @{$reference};

You're then just returning a dereferenced reference.