sub make_bin_ops {
    my $op = shift;
    return sub { 
               my ($a, $b) = @_; 
               return eval "$a $op $b"; 
           }
}
my ($div_OP) = make_bin_ops('/');
[download]

This seems to work (but since I'm not always sure about closures, I wouldn't be surprised to learn otherwise).

I decided, however, that the eval in the return sub ref was probably a performance hit. So I decided to use eval instead to return a sub ref that used the operator directly, like so:

sub make_bin_ops {
    $op = shift;
    $func = "sub {
                 my (\$a, \$b) = \@_
                 return \$a $op \$b;
             }";
     return eval $func;
}

my ($div_OP, $mult_OP) = make_bin_ops('/'), make_bin_ops('*');
print &$div_OP(2,2);
print &$mult_OP(2,2);
[download]

This however, does not seem to work. Perl tells me I'm calling an undefined subroutine - what gives?

ps - if someone can redirect me to a mortal comprhendable discussion of language implementation on the web, I'd be much appreciative.