$ perl -le' @test = ( [ 10, 12, 14 ], [ 12, 12, 14 ], [ 12, 14, 14 ], [ 12, 12, 12 ], [ 14, 10, 14 ] ); for ( @test ) { ( $t, $s, $e ) = @$_; print "1: $t $s $e"; $r = undef; ($t == $s && $t == $e) ? $r = 1 : $r = 0; print "2: $t $s $e $r"; $r = undef; $r = ($t == $s && $t == $e) ? 1 : 0; print "3: $t $s $e $r\n"; } ' 1: 10 12 14 2: 10 12 14 0 3: 10 12 14 0 1: 12 12 14 2: 12 12 14 0 3: 12 12 14 0 1: 12 14 14 2: 12 14 14 0 3: 12 14 14 0 1: 12 12 12 2: 12 12 12 0 3: 12 12 12 1 1: 14 10 14 2: 14 10 14 0 3: 14 10 14 0