$ ls x x*
ls: x: No such file or directory
ls: x*: No such file or directory
ls: .x*: No such file or directory

$ perl -v|head -n 2|tail -n1
This is perl, v5.8.8 built for i486-linux-gnu-thread-multi
$ perl -le'print <x>'

$ perl -le'print <x.>'
x.
$ perl -le'print <.x>'

$ perl -e'print <x*>'


$ ruby -v
ruby 1.8.6 (2007-06-07 patchlevel 36) [i486-linux]
$ ruby -e'p Dir["x"]'
[]
$ ruby -e'p Dir[".x"]'
[]
$ ruby -e'p Dir["x."]'
[]
$ ruby -e'p Dir["x*"]'
[]