i think the problem here is that perls array type is so high level that you should really consider if you need an extra "List" container class or just return an array of "person" objects. in a "List" class you could add some extra functionality (whatever that may be), but you got to code it (extra code to maintain) - (i got the feeling that this sounds a bit like how you would do it in java?)

i have experienced that the places where you got to deal with one "object" and with a whole bunch of them is very clearly defined. there is IMO no reason to further generalize the code any more if you are at that stage.

if you have the time you may give the container class approach a try and make the decision for yourself which of the two suits you and the whole project best. just think on a popular perl saying :)