Consider the following: 

#!/usr/bin/perl
use Bar;
BEGIN {
    print "Testing\n";
}
print "this is a test.\n";

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I would expect to see "Testing" before it does anything else. But, if Bar.pm has nothing but a single print statement, I see that output before the "Testing" statement is printed. Hence, I'm confused by the following from the perl documentation: 

Execution order: BEGIN{}, (possible save of state
       through compiler back-end), INIT{}, program runs, END{}.

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Isn't the "print" statement in Bar.pm part of the "program runs" step in the above sequence?

Dan Heller
http://www.danheller.com

In reply to What is the scope of BEGIN? Or... when does it "begin?" by argv

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