Better is in the eye of the beholder and depends on too many preferences to define properly.

e.g. run () if $chased is exactly the same code as $chased and run ();. It fully depends on your brain, the size of the team (1 is a valid size) and the style/rules the team has agreed on, the code consistency and the context which of the two to prefer. Personally I hate statement modifiers, as it does not fit my brain, so I prefer "expression and action" over "action if expression", but it it neither better nor worse.

With your reasoning, *I* always prevent single quotes wherever possible, so that /when/ I see them, they are special. I made an exception in a CPAN module that I want to be as portable as possible, even under the most strict release versions of perl, even some experimental ones.

I personally find $vars{"example $count"} way more readable and intuitive than $vars{'example ' . $count}

Your milage may/will vary. Be consistent, which is way more important than being conventional.