So what is the recommended way to list all entries in a directory?
...
Apparently it was not clear from my question but I am only interested in the top most directory.
Then the answer is readdir. I cannot really imagining something thinking there's a different answer (which was why I initially didn't assume you only wanted the top most directory).

A relevant quote from perlport:

Don’t count on filename globbing. Use "opendir", "readdir", and "closedir" instead.
You also may want to read perlport and take its notes regarding readdir in combination with VMS and Acorn RISC OS into account.

In reply to Re: How to list all the things in a directory? by JavaFan
in thread How to list all the things in a directory? by szabgab

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":



  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.