$data = <## bla bla bla #### bla bla bla $globalvar #### ## From perldiag: =item Use of bare << to mean <<"" is deprecated (D deprecated) You are now encouraged to use the explicitly quoted form if you wish to use an empty line as the terminator of the here-document. ## From perlop Customary Generic Meaning Interpolates '' q{} Literal no "" qq{} Literal yes `` qx{} Command yes* qw{} Word list no // m{} Pattern match yes* qr{} Pattern yes* s{}{} Substitution yes* tr{}{} Transliteration no (but see below) <## $data = <<'DATAFOO'; bla bla bla $globalvar DATAFOO print "$data\n" ; #### bla bla bla $globalvar