use strict;
use warnings;
use 5.010;  #if you are using perl 5.10 or greater

##</code><code>##

open SHAKESPEARE, "complete_works.txt"
    or die "The haunted grave of Shakespeare won't open: $!";
##</code><code>##

*someName

##</code><code>##

$x  -- scalar
@x -- array
%x -- hash
&x -- subroutine

(as well as a filehandle named x)

##</code><code>##

my $file = 'out.txt'
open my $sh, $file or die ...