N.B. sprintf("%08b", ord $byte) will only work with 5.6.0 and later. For 5.005_xx, use unpack.

You can also use the new vector modifier 'v' to avoid the ord (or to output multiple bytes worth at once): 

$ perl5.6.2 -we'$x = "\x01"; printf "%0v8b", $x'
00000001
$ perl5.6.2 -we'$x = "\x01\x02"; printf "%0v8b", $x'
00000001.00000010

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If you want just an uninterrupted stream of digits for the latter, remove the .'s afterward: 
$ perl5.6.2 -we'$x = "\x01\x02"; $binary = sprintf "%0v8b", $x;
> $binary =~ tr/.//d; print $binary'
0000000100000010

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In reply to Re: Printing, analyzing binary by Anomynous Monk
in thread Printing, analyzing binary by perlfan

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