$ perl -lwe 'for (qw/undef 0 "" !1 1==2/) { print "\n\$a = eval $_;"; $a = eval $_; print "$_:\t|$a|", 1+$a; }' $a = eval undef; Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at -e line 1. Use of uninitialized value in addition (+) at -e line 1. undef: ||1 $a = eval 0; 0: |0|1 $a = eval ""; Argument "" isn't numeric in addition (+) at -e line 1. "": ||1 $a = eval !1; !1: ||1 $a = eval 1==2; 1==2: ||1