my @apps = (
    [qw(/path/to/foo args of foo)],
    [qw(/path/to/bar args of it here)]
);

$SIG{CHLD} = 'IGNORE';

for (@apps) {
    defined(my $cpid = fork) or die $!;
    $cpid or exec {$_->[0]} @$_ or die $!;
}
exit 0; # the parent