#! /usr/bin/perl
#use strict;
#use warnings;
my @test=(); #() is the empty list, resets the array
my $counter = ''; # empty string, may be preferrable over zero; 

print "\nbefore assignment:\n";
print "values in \@test are";
print @test; #should print nothing 
print "\n"; 
print "\n value of \$counter= $counter \n"; 

@test=(1..50); #fills the array
print "\n after assignment:\n";
print "\nfirst element of array \@test is $test[0], it is stored in slot zero\n";

$counter=$#test;
print "the last element if the array is stored in slot number $counter \n";
$counter=@test; #using the array in scalar context returns the size of the array
print "\nthe array \@test has $counter elements after the first assignment\n";

$test[100]=99;
$counter=@test; #using the array in scalar context returns the size of the array
print "\nthe array \@test has $counter elements after the second assignment\n";
print @test;