According to module documentation on IO::File on CPAN undef $fh closes the file automatically. In contrast to Python, in Perl there is more than one way to do it. So both of your options are valid.

getlines comes from IO::Handle and is safe in list context according to its documentation.

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. H. L. Mencken

In reply to Re: A Few Questions About IO::File by hdb
in thread A Few Questions About IO::File by rpetrelli

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