As you learned in the previous lesson, scalar values can be either numbers or strings. In fact, the same value can be interpreted as either a number or a string, depending on the context of its use.
In Perl, scalars are effectively typeless; perl will freely convert its internal representation of the data as needed. When the context of an expression demands numeric data, perl will convert the scalar values to numeric; when the context demands string data, perl will convert the scalars to strings.

$x = 3;
# 3 is a  literal numeric value,
# so $x is numeric
    
$y = "4";
# "4" is a string because
# it's in quotes  

$z = $x + $y;
# $y is first converted to
# numeric, then the 
# sum is placed in $z

$z = join(':', $x, $y);

# $x is first converted to
# a string then, $z will
# be "3:4"

Click the Quiz link below to take a brief multiple-choice quiz about scalars in context.
Then we'll move on to discuss literal types and how they're specified.
Scalars Context - Quiz