c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -MO=Deparse,-p -le
"sub not_too_many_dots { return $_[0] =~ tr/.// <= 1; }
 ;;
 for my $s ('', qw(.  ..  ...  ....)) {
   my $g = my $f = not_too_many_dots($s);
   printf qq{'$s' %stoo many dots \n}, $f ? 'NOT ' : '';
   print $g;
   }
"
BEGIN { $^W = 1; }
BEGIN { $/ = "\n"; $\ = "\n"; }
sub not_too_many_dots {
    use strict 'refs';
    return((($_[0] =~ tr/.//) <= 1));
}
use strict 'refs';
foreach my($s) (('', ('.', '..', '...', '....'))) {
    (my $g = (my $f = not_too_many_dots($s)));
    printf("'${s}' %stoo many dots \n", ($f ? 'NOT ' : ''));
    print($g);
}
-e syntax OK