Benchmark: timing 1000000 iterations of Grep, Max, Ternary...
      Grep:  3 wallclock secs ( 2.68 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.68 CPU)
       Max:  7 wallclock secs ( 6.14 usr +  0.33 sys =  6.47 CPU)
   Ternary:  7 wallclock secs ( 6.54 usr +  0.00 sys =  6.54 CPU)

Perl 5.005_03
Linux 2.2.9-19mdk i686
Dual Celeron 466Mhz 128MB