#!/usr/bin/perl

use threads;

$thr = threads->new(\&sub1);

@ReturnData = $thr->join;
print "Thread returned @ReturnData\n";
print "array size is: ", scalar(@ReturnData), "\n";

@ReturnData = sub1();
print "Subroutine returned @ReturnData\n";
print "array size is: ", scalar(@ReturnData), "\n";

sub sub1
{
    return ("Fifty-six", "foo", 23);
}

__END__

Output:

Thread returned 23
array size is: 1
Subroutine returned Fifty-six foo 23
array size is: 3