my $data = q{
line 1
line 2
line 3
};
# OR
$data = <<'END';
line 1
line 2
line 3
END

# to ensure a terminating newline
# chomp $data; $data .= $/

print "$data";

##</code><code>##

@DATA = map "$_\n", split /\n/, $data; # but why add \n when you chomp later?