defined($slurp = &readfile($file)) or die "Could not open $file: $!\n"; print "Scalar 'slurp' now has ", length $slurp, " characters in it\n"; defined(@slurp = &readfile($file)) or die "Could not open $file: $!\n"; print "Array 'slurp' now has ", $#slurp, " elements in it.\n";