P:\test>perl
use strict;
use warnings;
my $x="";
print substr($x,2,1); # crashes here
print "Alive!\n"; # not reached
^Z
substr outside of string at - line 4.
Use of uninitialized value in print at - line 4.
Alive!

P:\test>c:\perl561\bin\perl5.6.1.exe
use strict;
use warnings;
my $x="";
print substr($x,2,1); # crashes here
print "Alive!\n"; # not reached
^Z
substr outside of string at - line 4.
Use of uninitialized value in print at - line 4.
Alive!

P:\test>