Personally, I always use the File::Spec module, specifically the File::Spec->catfile method, for any path creation, tinkering.

Anytime I try to do it myself, it always bites me in the butt for various reasons, spelling, unexpected input,etc. Plus, this way, the path could be more portable across file systems/platforms (should it ever be necessary) where the seperator is not "/".

Just my $0.00002 worth. -=Chris