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4.40: What is the difference between $array[1] and @array[1]?

    The former is a scalar value; the latter an array slice, making it a
    list with one (scalar) value. You should use $ when you want a scalar
    value (most of the time) and @ when you want a list with one scalar
    value in it (very, very rarely; nearly never, in fact).

    Sometimes it doesn't make a difference, but sometimes it does. For
    example, compare:

            $good[0] = `some program that outputs several lines`;

    with

            @bad[0]  = `same program that outputs several lines`;

    The "use warnings" pragma and the -w flag will warn you about these
    matters.

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