[erlang-questions] What does it mean when an evaluated expression is a list that contains the pipe character?

[Cole Fichter]

I came across the example:

> [1,2|3].
[1,2|3]

I understand that the pipe character, |, can be used to append an item to
the head of the list or to pop an item off the list in a pattern match.

But what exactly is happening in the example above? Why does the evaluated
expression still contain the pipe?

My best guess is that the final expression results in a match specification
that could be used in a pattern match. However, that seems strange too
because if so, we'd be popping two items off the list, which should be
illegal.

Can someone shed some light?

Thanks!
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://erlang.org/pipermail/erlang-questions/attachments/20150224/c6599f70/attachment.htm>