I find myself doing: 
if (defined($params->{root}) && $params->{root} eq '')

[download]
to avoid a runtime warning.
Always having to check if the variable is defined before testing its value. It just seems soooo unnecessarily verbose.
Is there a better way? I feel I'm missing something (with respect to my knowledge).

In reply to complaint: always testing defined() by RaptorRex

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