Although comparing two lists of a single scalar each is, as you said, exactly like comparing the naked scalars.

So what have we learned?

1. I shouldn't node before coffee, no matter what the hour.
2. "Naked Scalars" would be a pretty good name for a rock and roll band.
3. So would "Spaceship Operator."
4. I still can't find where <=>'s behavior in list context is documented.

The equality operators apply scalar context to both sides. Try this out and see. Operators apply context. I don't think they often respond to it but with perl anything is possible =)

my @a = keys %env;
my @b = values %env;
my @c = ( "equal", "a > b", "b > a" );
print ($c[@a<=>@b]),$/;
[download]

No really, damn good band names... =)

--
$you = new YOU;
honk() if $you->love(perl)

Ok, then riddle me this:

#!/usr/local/bin/perl -l

my @a = (1, 2, 3);
my @b = (1, 2, 4);
my @c = ( "equal", "a > b", "b > a" );

print ($c[@a<=>@b]);
print ($c[@b<=>@a]);
print ($c[(1, 2, 3)<=>(1, 2, 4)]);
print ($c[(1, 2, 4)<=>(1, 2, 3)]);
[download]

Produces:

equal
equal
b > a
a > b

Something about the difference between an array and a list, I suspect - a distinction oft unclear in my mind, regardless of caffine levels.

Peace,
-McD