That's the <> operator. =$something= isn't a simple scalar, so it's equivalent to glob("=$something="). On the other hand, <$something> means readline($something). (For special weirdness, <$ something> is the same as glob($something).)

See glob, readline and I/O Operators in perlop for details.

In reply to Re^3: "Secret" operators by mauke
in thread "Secret" operators by cog

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