use File::Slurp;
# ...
my $file_data = read_file( 'file.name' );

##</code><code>##

my $file_data = do { local $/; open(I,'file.name'); <I> };

##</code><code>##

use File::Slurp;
#...
my @lines = read_file( 'file.name' );

##</code><code>##

open( I, 'file.name' );
my @lines = <I>;