require Net::SMTP;
    my $smtp;
    if (ref $args[0]) {
        $opts = shift @args;
        # handle special cases, and finally resulting in a usable value
        # in $smtp.
    } else {
       $smtp = MIME::Lite::SMTP->new(@args)
         or Carp::croak("Failed to connect to mail server: $!\n");
    }