my $maxsize = 0;
foreach my $line (@lines)
{
  chomp $line;   #remove \n from the line
  my $lineLength = length($line);  #Determine length of line

  #if line is longer than the longest 
  #line I've seen so far then make it $maxsize.
  if($lineLength>$maxsize)  
  {
    $maxsize = $lineLength;
  }
}