What does the line <FILE>; exactly do? $_ = <FILE>; and the former seems to have swapped meaning since the latter doesn't work at all. It all started with trying to do this:
my ($parent, $createtime) = split(/;/, <FILE>);
But that didn't work so I tried
$_ = <FILE>;
my ($parent, $createtime) = split(/;/);

[download]
Neither did that but finally
<FILE>;
my ($parent, $createtime) = split(/;/);

[download]
worked. Why did the first one not work and what's the deal with $_ and filehandles?

Another thing I don't understand is how
while (<FILE>) {$somevar .= $_} works but
while ($somevar .= <FILE>) {} doesn't. (It puts the program in a scary infinite loop)

In reply to $_ and filehandles by OnionKnight

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