$ perl -MO=Deparse,-p -e ' ($t[0] == $s[0] && $t[0] == $e[0]) ? $r[0] = 1 : $r[0] = 0; ' (((($t[0] == $s[0]) && ($t[0] == $e[0])) ? ($r[0] = 1) : $r[0]) = 0); -e syntax OK $ perl -MO=Deparse,-p -e ' $r[0] = ($t[0] == $s[0] && $t[0] == $e[0]) ? 1 : 0; ' ($r[0] = ((($t[0] == $s[0]) && ($t[0] == $e[0])) ? 1 : 0)); -e syntax OK