Before pulling apart the interpreter, you can at least shave a character off the preamble using the old m// trick: 
# Formerly:
split//,lc

# Revised:
lc=~m/./g

# Revised revision [mtve]:
lc=~/./g

[download]
Chalk one up for Perl!

Update: mtve points out the obvious. D'oh!

In reply to Re: Is Perl less compact than Ruby? (Kind of competition) by tadman
in thread Is Perl less compact than Ruby? (Kind of competition) by locked_user mtve

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