#!perl -w use strict; use Benchmark; my @ary = 0 .. 100; sub test { $a++; } Benchmark::cmpthese ( -1, { direct => sub {$a++}, sub => sub {test} } ); __END__ Benchmark: running direct, sub, each for at least 1 CPU seconds... direct: 1 wallclock secs ( 1.48 usr + 0.00 sys = 1.48 CPU) @ 346460.81/s (n=512762) sub: 1 wallclock secs ( 1.00 usr + 0.00 sys = 1.00 CPU) @ 137843.00/s (n=137843) Rate sub direct sub 137843/s -- -60% direct 346461/s 151% --