splat operator and context

I was trying to implement unary * (list flatten or "splat" operator) in 
pugs yesterday, and I came to the conclusion that I really don't grok 
how context works in Perl6 (I also really don't grok Haskell, but this 
is another story...).

if I understand correctly, all these are equivalents:

   my @a = 1,2,3;
   my @a = (1,2,3);
   my @a = list 1,2,3;
   my @a = [1,2,3]; # or does it make @a[0] = (1,2,3)?

and all these are too (they make $a a reference to an array):

   my $a = 1,2,3;
   my $a = (1,2,3);
   my $a = list 1,2,3;
   my $a = [1,2,3];

I'm not sure what the following do (assign 1 to $a maybe?):

   my $a = *@a;
   my $a = *(1,2,3); # or is this a syntax error?
   my $a = *(list 1,2,3);
   my $a = *[1,2,3];

and I have absolutely no clue about the following:

   my *$a = @a;
   my *$a = *@a;
   my *$a = (1,2,3);
   my *$a = [1,2,3];

thanks for any help.

cheers,
Aldo

• splat operator and context by Aldo Calpini
• Re: splat operator and context by Luke Palmer
• Re: splat operator and context by Juerd
• Re: splat operator and context by Larry Wall
• Re: splat operator and context by Aldo Calpini