Besides the other, more drastic changes, you could simplify your existing algorithm by using an idiom like the following. Replace:

  if (! &func1()) {
    return 0;
  }
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with:

  func1() or return 0;
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This reduces the lines of code, puts the function call up front where it commands attention, and pushes the error code and return value to a quiet after thought.

Notice that I also dropped the "&" in the function call. (Yes, I remember Perl 4).

Oh, if you want to return if the function returns true, replace "or" with "and" as in:

  func2() and return 0;
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-- Eric Hammond