Tip #6 from the Basic debugging checklist: use B::Deparse to see if your code really is what you think it is: 
$ perl -MO=Deparse two.pl

BEGIN { $^W = 1; }
sub two {
    use strict 'refs';
    2;
}
use strict 'refs';
printf "two + 2 = %d\n", two(2);

[download]

So, two + 2 is interpreted as two(2). Instead of evaluating your function, then adding 2, perl treats everything after your function call as a LIST of arguments when you omit the parentheses. From perlsub:

2. NAME LIST; # Parentheses optional if predeclared/imported.

While it is legal syntax to omit the parentheses on function calls, it is a good practice to use them, even if your function does not need arguments: 

printf "two + 2 = %d\n",two() + 2;

[download]

As a side note, your code would render better if you replace your "pre" tags with "code" tags: Writeup Formatting Tips

In reply to Re: two + 2 not equal 4! by toolic
in thread two + 2 not equal 4! by kp2a

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.